Ready or not, October snows can and will fall across Canada
October snows shouldn’t come as a surprise across Canada
October is here and the end of summer is barely in the rearview mirror before we have to start facing the chance for snow.
The first snowflakes of the season always seem like they're flying far too soon. But it’s a tough reality check that Canadians have to face every year. October snows can and will fall across Canada, and some spots are more likely to see it than others.
It’s a reminder that winter is right around the corner. Make sure you and your vehicle are prepared for winter weather driving, and ensure that you’ve got the right supplies and hacks to make it through the cold weeks and months ahead.
DON’T MISS: Winter is Coming: Here's how to prepare before hitting the road
October snow is likelier than you may realize
Snow in October is a glum thought for warm-weather lovers who want to hold on to the sun’s warmth just a little while longer. But it’s a chilly fact of life that snow isn’t just possible throughout some major Canadian cities—but snow is even expected for many areas.
Take a look at average snowfall totals across Canada through the month of October.
Yellowknife understandably leads the way with 20 cm of snow during an average October. Look at some of those average totals down south. Calgary and Edmonton stand to see about 11-12 cm of snow during a typical October, while folks in southern Manitoba usually see just enough snow by Halloween to whiten the ground.
October snows are a little harder to come by across the eastern half of Canada, where it’s tougher for subfreezing air to overpower the region’s lingering warmth.
Folks around Ottawa and Montreal tend to eke out a dusting of snow during an average October, while the flakes are harder to come by for communities in the Maritimes.
First snows have happened as early as August
There are always some exceptions to the rule. What’s the earliest we’ve seen measurable snow fall across the country?
Summer holds the record for the earliest instance of 2+ cm of snow falling on the Prairies, where Red Deer saw its first measurable snow on August 2, 2002.
Things are a bit more reasonable across lower elevations in British Columbia, where a formidable storm in the waning days of October 1991 brought Vancouver and Victoria their earliest snows on record.
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Back east, a storm that closed out September 1946 laid down the earliest blanket of snow ever measured in Ottawa and Montreal.
We’ve had to wait a little later in the season across southern Ontario, where the record-holder in Toronto was a snowfall observed on October 21, 1969.
