Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, the park has a subarctic climate with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Located on the eastern side of the Continental Divide, Banff National Park receives 472 mm (18.6 in) of precipitation annually. This is considerably less than received in Yoho National Park on the western side of the divide in British Columbia, with 884 mm (34.8 in) annual precipitation at Wapta Lake and 616 mm (24.3 in) at Boulder Creek. 234 mm (9.2 in) of snow falls on average each winter in the Banff townsite, while 290 mm (11 in) falls in Lake Louise.
During winter months, temperatures in Banff are moderated, compared to other areas of central and northern Alberta, due to Chinook winds and other influences from British Columbia. The mean low temperature during January is −15 °C (5 °F), and the mean high temperature is −5 °C (23 °F) for the Town of Banff. Weather conditions during summer months are warm, with high temperatures during July averaging 22 °C (72 °F), and daily low temperatures averaging 7 °C (45 °F).
| Climate data for Banff | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Humidex | 12.2 | 14.3 | 16.1 | 24.4 | 29.0 | 30.0 | 33.0 | 32.8 | 30.4 | 24.9 | 15.0 | 12.2 | 33.0 |
| Record high °C (°F) | 12.2 (54.0) |
14.7 (58.5) |
17.2 (63.0) |
25.6 (78.1) |
29.4 (84.9) |
33.3 (91.9) |
34.4 (93.9) |
33.9 (93.0) |
31.0 (87.8) |
26.5 (79.7) |
16.5 (61.7) |
12.5 (54.5) |
34.4 (93.9) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −4.6 (23.7) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
4.5 (40.1) |
9.5 (49.1) |
14.5 (58.1) |
18.5 (65.3) |
21.9 (71.4) |
21.3 (70.3) |
16.3 (61.3) |
10.1 (50.2) |
0.2 (32.4) |
−5.1 (22.8) |
8.9 (48.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −9.3 (15.3) |
−6 (21.2) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
3.5 (38.3) |
8.1 (46.6) |
12.0 (53.6) |
14.6 (58.3) |
14.1 (57.4) |
9.5 (49.1) |
4.4 (39.9) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−9.2 (15.4) |
3.0 (37.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −14.1 (6.6) |
−11.6 (11.1) |
−7.3 (18.9) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
1.7 (35.1) |
5.4 (41.7) |
7.4 (45.3) |
6.9 (44.4) |
2.7 (36.9) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
−8.4 (16.9) |
−13.3 (8.1) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −51.2 (−60.2) |
−45 (−49.0) |
−40.6 (−41.1) |
−27.2 (−17.0) |
−17.8 (0.0) |
−3.9 (25.0) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−16.7 (1.9) |
−27 (−16.6) |
−40.6 (−41.1) |
−48.3 (−54.9) |
−51.2 (−60.2) |
| Wind chill | −52.1 | −49.1 | −41.8 | −37 | −21.1 | −5.3 | −3.2 | −4.7 | −14.4 | −28.7 | −43.1 | −50.6 | −52.1 |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 27.5 (1.083) |
21.9 (0.862) |
23.4 (0.921) |
32.4 (1.276) |
59.6 (2.346) |
61.7 (2.429) |
54.2 (2.134) |
60.1 (2.366) |
42.1 (1.657) |
29.4 (1.157) |
26.8 (1.055) |
33.2 (1.307) |
472.3 (18.594) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 2.9 (0.114) |
1.7 (0.067) |
2.7 (0.106) |
12.6 (0.496) |
44.3 (1.744) |
59.8 (2.354) |
54.1 (2.13) |
60.0 (2.362) |
37.0 (1.457) |
13.8 (0.543) |
4.4 (0.173) |
3.1 (0.122) |
296.2 (11.661) |
| Snowfall cm (inches) | 34.1 (13.43) |
29.3 (11.54) |
28.1 (11.06) |
22.5 (8.86) |
17.0 (6.69) |
1.8 (0.71) |
0.0 (0) |
0.2 (0.08) |
5.7 (2.24) |
19.8 (7.8) |
32.3 (12.72) |
43.2 (17.01) |
234.1 (92.17) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 10.7 | 9.9 | 10.2 | 10.9 | 13.4 | 15.0 | 14.5 | 15.0 | 11.0 | 9.3 | 10.0 | 11.1 | 141.0 |
| Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 11.7 | 14.9 | 14.5 | 14.9 | 10.0 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 82.9 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 11.1 | 9.8 | 10.0 | 7.9 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 4.9 | 9.2 | 11.2 | 71.0 |
| Source: Environment Canada | |||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Banff National Park
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Ghosts, we hope, may be always with us—that is, never too far out of the reach of fancy. On the whole, it would seem they adapt themselves well, perhaps better than we do, to changing world conditions—they enlarge their domain, shift their hold on our nerves, and, dispossessed of one habitat, set up house in another. The universal battiness of our century looks like providing them with a propitious climate ...”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“The question of place and climate is most closely related to the question of nutrition. Nobody is free to live everywhere; and whoever has to solve great problems that challenge all his strength actually has a very restricted choice in this matter. The influence of climate on our metabolism, its retardation, its acceleration, goes so far that a mistaken choice of place and climate can not only estrange a man from his task but can actually keep it from him: he never gets to see it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“If often he was wrong and at times absurd,
To us he is no more a person
Now but a whole climate of opinion.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)