Climate and Average Weather Year Round at Fort McMurray Airport Canada

At Fort McMurray Airport, the summers are long, comfortable, and partly cloudy and the winters are frigid, snowy, and mostly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from -6°F to 76°F and is rarely below -30°F or above 86°F.

Based on the tourism score, the best time of year to visit Fort McMurray Airport for warm-weather activities is from early July to mid August.

The warm season lasts for 4.0 months, from May 13 to September 13, with an average daily high temperature above 63°F. The hottest month of the year at Fort McMurray Airport is July, with an average high of 75°F and low of 52°F.

The cold season lasts for 3.1 months, from November 19 to February 24, with an average daily high temperature below 23°F. The coldest month of the year at Fort McMurray Airport is January, with an average low of -5°F and high of 11°F.

At Fort McMurray Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Fort McMurray Airport begins around April 15 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around October 13.

The clearest month of the year at Fort McMurray Airport is August, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 53% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 13 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around April 15.

The cloudiest month of the year at Fort McMurray Airport is February, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 77% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Fort McMurray Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.2 months, from May 13 to September 18, with a greater than 20% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days at Fort McMurray Airport is June, with an average of 9.3 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation.

The drier season lasts 7.8 months, from September 18 to May 13. The month with the fewest wet days at Fort McMurray Airport is February, with an average of 2.4 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation at Fort McMurray Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 7.1 months, from March 28 to October 31. The month with the most days of rain alone at Fort McMurray Airport is June, with an average of 9.3 days.

Snow alone is the most common for 4.9 months, from October 31 to March 28. The month with the most days of snow alone at Fort McMurray Airport is December, with an average of 3.1 days.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Fort McMurray Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 6.6 months, from April 5 to October 24, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The month with the most rain at Fort McMurray Airport is June, with an average rainfall of 2.7 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 5.4 months, from October 24 to April 5. The month with the least rain at Fort McMurray Airport is December, with an average rainfall of 0.0 inches.

Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Fort McMurray Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 7.1 months, from October 5 to May 9, with a sliding 31-day snowfall of at least 1.0 inches. The month with the most snow at Fort McMurray Airport is December, with an average snowfall of 4.3 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 4.9 months, from May 9 to October 5. The least snow falls around July 15, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at Fort McMurray Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2024, the shortest day is December 21, with 6 hours, 48 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 20, with 17 hours, 48 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 4:32 AM on June 17, and the latest sunrise is 4 hours, 28 minutes later at 9:01 AM on December 28. The earliest sunset is at 3:45 PM on December 13, and the latest sunset is 6 hours, 36 minutes later at 10:20 PM on June 23.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Fort McMurray Airport during 2024, starting in the spring on March 10, lasting 7.8 months, and ending in the fall on November 3.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The perceived humidity level at Fort McMurray Airport, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining a virtually constant 0% throughout.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed at Fort McMurray Airport does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining within 0.5 miles per hour of 4.3 miles per hour throughout.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Fort McMurray Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 1.5 months, from March 2 to April 17, with a peak percentage of 28% on March 3. The wind is most often from the north for 1.8 months, from April 17 to June 10, with a peak percentage of 29% on May 7. The wind is most often from the west for 8.7 months, from June 10 to March 2, with a peak percentage of 40% on January 1.

To characterize how pleasant the weather is at Fort McMurray Airport throughout the year, we compute two travel scores.

The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Fort McMurray Airport for general outdoor tourist activities is from early July to mid August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Fort McMurray Airport for hot-weather activities is from mid July to early August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

Methodology

For each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed.

Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies.

Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more.

Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter.

Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season at Fort McMurray Airport typically lasts for 3.7 months (112 days), from around May 22 to around September 12, rarely starting before May 3 or after June 11, and rarely ending before August 23 or after October 1.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

Based on growing degree days alone, the first spring blooms at Fort McMurray Airport should appear around May 11, only rarely appearing before May 1 or after May 25.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.7 months, from April 25 to August 16, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.9 kWh. The brightest month of the year at Fort McMurray Airport is June, with an average of 6.0 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 4.0 months, from October 20 to February 19, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.5 kWh. The darkest month of the year at Fort McMurray Airport is December, with an average of 0.4 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Fort McMurray Airport are 56.653 deg latitude, -111.222 deg longitude, and 1,201 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Fort McMurray Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 472 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 1,125 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (794 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,781 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Fort McMurray Airport is covered by trees (63%), herbaceous vegetation (19%), and grassland (15%), within 10 miles by trees (64%) and herbaceous vegetation (27%), and within 50 miles by trees (70%) and herbaceous vegetation (18%).