Snow day: This is when Calgary usually gets its first snowfall

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Calgary has lucked out with an absolutely stunning September and October this year, it sure has been nice with no fear of an early dump of snow coming.

With all the warmth, it got us thinking: over the past few years, when did the first significant snowfall of the season tend to occur in Calgary?

Well, we reached out to the experts at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and they combed through the past 10 years of data, and some of the facts may surprise you.

You might even remember some of the years when YYC got a wickedly early dump of snow or the years when it arrived blissfully later than usual.

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How much snow must fall to make it count?

Around two centimetres of snow is the official first significant snowfall event, according to ECCC.

So, let’s take a look at when the first significant snow event was recorded in Calgary over the past 10 years.

2011: November 30, when 5.8 centimetres fell
2012: October 9, when 2 centimetres fell
2013: October 27, when 4.4 centimetres fell
2014: September 8, when 12 centimetres fell
2015: October 3, when 3 centimetres fell
2016: October 7, when 4 centimetres fell
2017: November 1, when 2.2 centimetres fell
2018: October 1, when 5.3 centimetres fell
2019: September 28, when 4.5 centimetres fell
2020: October 14, when 5.5 centimetres fell
2021: October 29, when 3.6 centimetres fell

Oh, and the latest time of measurable snow to ever fall in Calgary? That happened in 1952 when the white stuff didn’t show up until November 19.

So, there you have it. So far Calgary has beaten out seven of the previous 10 years when it comes to the first significant snowfall event. Let’s see if it will last into November like it did in 2017 and 2011. Wouldn’t that be nice?

By the looks of The Weather Networks’ early winter forecast, Calgary might be in store for an interesting winter, to say the least.

If you are curious about how our friends to the north survive, we got the data for Edmonton’s snowfall right here too.