This is when Edmonton usually gets its first snow of the year | Daily Hive

Shovels out: This is when Edmonton usually gets its first snow of the year

@CityofEdmonton/X

It finally happened: Edmonton lucked out with a pretty stunning September and October this year, with not a snowflake in sight, but our luck was bound to run out sooner or later.

The first snow of the season has officially arrived, marking the end of our extended fall. But it got us thinking: when does the season’s first significant snowfall tend to occur in Edmonton?

Well, we reached out to the experts at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), who 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 YEG got a wickedly early dump of snow or the years when it arrived blissfully later than usual.

You might also like:

Pawel Serafin/Shutterstock

When did it first snow in Edmonton over the past 10 years?

Let’s take a look at when the first significant snow event was recorded at the Edmonton International Airport over the past 10 years.

2015: Nov. 23, when 6.2 centimetres fell
2016: Oct. 7, when 2.8 centimetres fell
2017: Sept. 19, when 4.8 centimetres fell
2018: Sept. 12, when 5 centimetres fell
2019: Nov. 5, when 3 centimetres fell
2020: Oct. 16, when 2.2 centimetres fell
2021: Nov. 15, when 4 centimetres fell
2022: Nov. 1, when 4.4 centimetres fell
2023: Oct. 23, when 2.5 centimetres fell
2024: Nov. 2, when 1.1 centimetres fell

Oh, and the latest time of measurable snow to ever fall in Edmonton? That happened in 2008, when the white stuff didn’t show up until Dec. 2.

There you have it. We’ll have to wait until the snow stops falling to know the final total, but Nov. 7 marks Edmonton’s third-latest first significant snowfall, following Nov. 15, 2021, and Nov. 23, 2015.

If you were curious about how our friends in Calgary compare, you can check out that data, too.