The Great Mildwave of February 2026

All good things must come to an end. 

As winter returns after a length pause, let's talk about the great mildwave of February 2026. Just how unusual was it?

For some context, February does like to throw deepfreezes at us.

On average it gets around 5 Lows of -20°C.

The only recent years with none were 2016 & 2013. 

But recently 2025, 2021 & 2019 got to -20°C on 14, 15 & 19 days respectively. So February can definitely be cold.

But February also usually gets a fair number of mild days.

On average 12 Highs are above-freezing. Midway through the month 2026 is at 14. Recently 2016 & 2003 both got to 20 for the whole month.

We average 5 5°C Highs, and so far we're at 12. 2016 had 13 for the whole month.

February 2026 had 2 Highs reach 10°C. Those are unusual, but not super rare. 

2025 had 3, 2024 had 2, 2020 had 1, 2017 had 3, 2016, had 2, etc.

And for some reason, prior to 1940 we recorded a lot of them. 1889 has the record with 6, and a bunch of years had 3, 4 or 5.

So the warm temperatures at the start of February 2026 were not unusual by themselves.

We did get a new record High for the 4th, and record warmest-Lows for the 5th & 8th.

But the big thing is that we got a lot of warm days, all in-a-row.





Days In A Row

We had 9 Highs in-a-row get to 7°C, which ties 1896 for 2nd longest streak on record. 1916 got to 10. 

We had 12 6°C Highs in-a-row, which is new record, 2 ahead of 1916's 10. 

And we had 12 5°C Highs in-a-row, which ties the record with 1916 again.

We've also had 14 Highs in-a-row get to 0°C.

That sounds like a lot, but 1977 has the record, with all 28 days above freezing (and carrying on for another two weeks into March). 1986 went 26 days in-a-row, 1991 went 17, and 2001 went 16.

But was this our warmest start to February? 

For February 1-15 the average High of 6.4°C easily beat 2nd place 1977's 5.7°C. 1991, 1984 & 1934 round out the top-5. 

And the average Low of -3°C is ahead of 1991's -3.5°C. 1977, 1889 & 1984 are the top-5.

Our warm start to February follows a pretty warm January.

So a month and a half in to 2026 its temperatures are our 6th warmest on record. (that will change as winter returns). 

1889 was the warmest at this point of the year, and was our warmest year overall until 1976.

And the mildwave wasn't just us. Calgary, Saskatoon & Regina were all well above average. Even Winnipeg got a bit of it.

This is comparison of Edmonton's & Calgary's temperatures.

On the 4th & 5th when we were around 10°C they got up to 16.2°C and 18°C (their 8th warmest February day on record). From the 9th onwards the temperatures were pretty close.

Snow

February is generally our least snowy winter month, averaging 13cm, while the others are closer to 20cm.

And so far this February is at...0cm. 

That will change as winter returns. But the lack of snow and the warm temperatures have dropped the snowdepth at the local stations.

Seasons are complicated in Edmonton, and March & April can be wintery.

But this mildwave got us 2 weeks closer to the start of the end of winter. 3 weeks from now is when our average temperatures start the climb towards spring, and the big melt usually gets going.