Snow day: This is when Calgary usually gets its first snowfall
Calgary has lucked out with a pretty stunning September and October this year, and it sure has been nice with no fear of an early dump of snow coming.
With all the warmth, it got us thinking: when does the season’s first significant snowfall 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.
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.
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
2022: October 22, when 21 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.
There you have it. So far, Calgary has beaten out five of the previous 10 years when it comes to the first significant snowfall event.
Fingers crossed we don’t see a massive dump of snow like we did last year, and maybe we can hope the warmth will last into November like it did in 2017 and 2011. Wouldn’t that be nice?
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