Average-ish Year for Snowfall in Swift Current

It was a pretty average year for snowfall amounts in Swift Current this past winter thanks to a trio of storms.

Since 1900 the city on average has received 74.6 centimetres of snow from October until the end of March and this year the number came in slightly higher at 82.7 centimetres.

However, nearly two-thirds of the precipitation was recorded on November 8 (25 cm), January 13 (10 cm), and March 29 (15 cm).

"I don't have stats about how often the large percentage of the snow for two seasons (fall and winter) occurs in three storms," Natalie Hazel, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said. "I don't think it's that unusual, I think most winters are marked by a few, a few being the important word here, memorable or remarkable storms."

Perhaps the most memorable snowstorm for Swift Current this past winter season was on November 8, when the community received the ninth-largest single-day snowfall in 135 years of record forcing the city's election to be postponed.

"I think every year, especially if it happened on a day that was important to you, you will remember a particularly bad storm," she said. "And in this case, you're looking at stats, like actual data, and you've highlighted when the storms happened and I can corroborate. I don't think you're alone this year, I think most places got the great majority of precipitation they received just in a few events."

The blizzard on November 8, 2020, now also holds the single-day snowfall record for the 11th month of the year in Swift Current edging out the 24.9 cm that fell back on November 24, 1892.

Swift Current's snowiest winter since 1900 came back in 1915-16 when the city received 189.7 cm of snow.