Calgary Real Estate
Climate
Calgary has a semi-arid, highland continental climate with long, dry, but highly variable, winters and short, moderately warm summers (Koppen climate classification BSk, USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 3b). The climate is greatly influenced by the city's elevation and close proximity to the Rocky Mountains. Although Calgary's winters can be uncomfortably cold, warm, dry Chinook winds routinely blow into the city from the Pacific Ocean during the winter months, giving Calgarians a break from the cold. These winds have been known to raise the winter temperature by up to 15 °C (27 °F) in just a few hours, and may last several days. The chinooks are such a common feature of Calgary's winters that only one month (January 1950) has failed to witness a thaw over more than 100 years of weather observations. More than one half of all winter days see the daily maximum rise above 0 °C (32 °F). Some winter days even approach +20 °C (68 °F) on occasion.
Calgary is a city of extremes, and temperatures have ranged anywhere from a record low of −45 °C (−49 °F) in 1893 to a record high of +36 °C (96.8 °F) in 1919. Temperatures fall below −30 °C (−22 °F) on about five days per year, though extreme cold spells usually do not last very long. According to Environment Canada, the average temperature in Calgary ranges from a January daily average of −9 °C (15.8 °F) to a July daily average of +16 °C (60.8 °F).
As a consequence of Calgary's high elevation and relative dryness, summer evenings can be very cool, the average summer minimum temperature drops to +8 °C (46.4 °F), and frosts can occur in any month of the year. Calgary has experienced snowfall even in July and August. Calgary experiences summer daytime temperatures exceeding +30 °C (86 °F) on an average of four days per year. With an average relative humidity of 55% in the winter and 45% in the summer, Calgary has a semi-arid climate typical of other cities in the Western Great Plains and Canadian Prairies. Unlike cities further east, like Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa or Winnipeg, humidity is almost never a factor during the Calgary summer.
The city is among the sunniest in Canada, with 2,405 hours of annual sunshine, on average. Calgary International Airport in the northeastern section of the city receives an average of 413 mm (16.3 in) of precipitation annually, with 301 mm (11.9 in) of that occurring in the form of rain, and the remaining 112 mm (4.4 in) as snow. Most of the precipitation occurs from May to August, with June averaging the most monthly rainfall. In June of 2005, Calgary received 248 mm (9.8 in) of precipitation, making it the wettest month in the city's recorded history. Droughts are not uncommon and may occur at any time of the year, lasting sometimes for months or even several years. Precipitation decreases somewhat from west to east; consequently, groves of trees on the western outskirts largely give way to treeless grassland around the eastern city limit.
Calgary averages more than 20 days a year with thunderstorms, with almost all of them occurring in the summer months. Calgary lies on the edge of Alberta's hailstorm alley and is prone to occasional damaging hailstorms. A hailstorm that struck Calgary on September 7, 1991, was one of the most destructive natural disasters in Canadian history, with over $400 million dollars in damage.
