2025 Year-In-Review: Part 3 - Snow

And finally we have reached the end of our 2025 Year-in-Review, as we dig into Snow. How was the snow for Edmonton and other Canadian cities last year?

(Blatchford no longer records snowfall, so most of the numbers will be from the International Airport)



Monthly Snow

Normally we talk about snow each winter, but today is the 2025 summary, so it's January-March and November-December.

March & December were well above average, while February was really low.

April & October were both snowfree. 

For April the only other time that has happened at the airport was 1998, although Blatchford had a number of snowfree Aprils.

And October is snowfree every few years, like 2022, 2021, 2015...

December's 59.9cm was the biggest story.

It was the airport's snowiest December on record, although Blatchford did get 81.5cm in 1893.

And it was our snowiest month since since January 2011's 63.7cm. Before that November 1996 got 73.7cm.



Total Snow

This chart has the cumulative snow for year (it looks a little strange because it includes the summer months).

We average about 120cm of snow each year, and in 2025 the airport recorded 136.1cm. That's not super exciting, but it is the snowiest year since 2018's 166cm.



Snow Across Canada

For these cities across Canada Charlottetown was at the top with 447.4cm, which is pretty average for them.

Calgary's 81.9cm is the biggest outlier, because they average around 140cm in a year.



Last & First Snowfalls

In 2025 our final spring snowfall was March 28th, which is very early. And the first fall snowfall was November 7th, which is a week or two late.

This is a comparison of the snow seasons. 

Edmonton & Calgary usually start in early October and last through May. Central & Eastern Canada start later in November, and usually end in April. (Regina, Saskatoon & Winnipeg don't do snow measurements anymore)



The Spring Melt

For the spring melt, our snow was basically gone in the last week of March. But then a big March storm bounced it back up until the first week of April.

This one is pretty busy, but it shows the spring 2025 snow depths for other cities. 

Many cities were down to 0cm by late March, but then got a final quick blip. Dawson City & Saskatoon held on the longest, and even they were done by the second week of April.



Fall Snow

For fall snowdepth the locals stations didn't get started until November 28th, which is really late. And then with all of the December snowfall things really took off around the middle of the month.

A busy chart again, but for fall snowdepth a lot of the cities here got started around December 1st. Edmonton's snowy December pushed us ahead of the pack.



Snowstorms

For snowstorms the biggest days were March 27 with 14.4cm, and December 17th with 13cm.

...but both of those were part of multi-day snowstorms. 

The March 27-28 storm dropped a total of 24cm, and December 16-17 dropped 18.6cm. Both of those are pretty big for us, with most winters not getting an 18cm+ strom.

Across the country the biggest single-day snowfalls were: 

• Charlottetown with 46cm, and 6 other 30cm & 20cm days. 
• Montréal with 36.8cm & 34cm 
• Ottawa with 33.4cm & 26.8cm 
• St. John's with 21.8cm

Winter Rain

It always feels weird when it happens, but winter rain is not too unusual for Edmonton.

We might average around 3 rainy days in January, February & December, but 2025 actually had 8. That's the most since 2015's 9.

And that finally brings us to the end of our long look back at the weather for 2025.