When I chose to live in Calgary three and a half years ago, I already heard that it is a very cold place, and got the impression that among the big cities of Canada, it is the coldest. Today, I had the urge to try and validate that impression with actual weather data. It looks like this long-held impression was wrong.
The average temperature data of several major cities from 1981 to 2010 as sampled at each city’s international airport was an eye-opener. A chart I created using data from the site http://climate.weather.gc.ca tells much of the story. Highlights, on average :
- Vancouver had the best weather, temperature-wise, hands-down. No surprise there.
- Calgary did NOT have the coldest winter, but had one of the coolest summer.
- Winnipeg had the coldest winter.
- Toronto had the “hottest” summer, although 21.5 degrees celsius can hardly be called hot. (I still find it amusing whenever a heat wave advisory is announced on TV, when the temperature is expected to hit 30 degrees.)
- Taking full-year averages, Edmonton was the coldest city. That for me, was a surprise.
Of course, averages can be deceiving. So I looked at the average RANGE of temperature for Calgary from 1981-2010.
January is Calgary’s coldest month, averaging at minus 7.1 degrees celsius, with a low daily minimum of minus 13.2 degrees, and a high daily maximum of minus 0.9 degrees. That really isn’t so bad … on average.
Still, in reality there will be days when it can get really cold. This is my fourth winter in Calgary, and I’ve had occasion to wait for the bus in minus 30 degree weather, which with wind feels like minus 40 degrees.
The site also has data on the coldest and hottest days in Calgary, on record. The hottest day on record happened on July 15, 1919, almost a century ago. It was a record hot 36.1 degrees, which is a hot but common summer day in Manila.
The coldest? February 4, 1893 at a bone-chilling minus 45 degrees.
My conclusion? On average, based on the above data and validated by actual experience, the weather in Calgary is quite comfortable in summer and manageable in winter.
But very cold days do happen. As long as one dresses appropriately for it, temperature dips make these days, hmmmm, interesting. 🙂
If you’re a Kabayan who has decided to migrate to Canada, is still undecided where to settle down and considers weather a major factor, I hope this post helps. 🙂
To read Part 1 of this post, click here.
To read my most recent blog post, as well as access links to earlier posts, click this link.
Pinoys to Canada 