Foothills Fescue Range Plant Community Guide - Sustainable ...

The climate in the Foothills Fescue Natural Subregion is characterized by short summers
with warm days and cool nights, and long cold winters, similar to the climate throughout
southern Alberta. However, winter temperatures in the Foothills Fescue Natural
Subregion are moderated by frequent chinook winds, which are strong westerly winds
that occur most frequently in late fall and winter. The adjoining Mixed Grass Natural
Subregion (Table 1), is drier, warmer in summer and has less intense Chinooks. To the
west the Foothills Parkland is cooler and moister.
Table 1. Key distinguishing features of the Foothills Fescue Natural Subregion
compared with neighboring Natural Subregions.
Natural
Subregion
Dominant Soils Dominant
Vegetation
Foothills Fescue Black Chernozem Foothills rough
fescue
Mixed Grass Dark Brown
Chernozem
Foothills Parkland Black Chernozem
(Thick)
Northern Fescue Dark Brown
Chernozem and
Dark Brown
Solonetz
Wheatgrasses
and spear grasses
Foothills rough
fescue, shrubs
and aspen forest
Plains rough
fescue and
Porcupine grass
Central Parkland Black Chernozem Plains rough
fescue, shrubs
and aspen forest
General Climate
Compared to Foothills
Fescue
winter climate moderated by
Chinooks, high frequency of
snowfall in late winter and
early spring (Achuff 1994)
drier, warmer summers, less
intense Chinooks
cooler and moister
colder, more continental, drier
and fewer Chinooks
colder with significantly fewer
Chinooks
Mean annual precipitation in the Foothills Fescue ranges from about 397 mm at Del
Bonita to 589 mm at Pincher Creek. The Cardston Plain receives more precipitation than
the other three Ecodistricts (Table 2) due to its proximity to the Rocky Mountains and the
higher frequency of snowstorms in late winter and early spring. The Foothills Fescue
overall receives more snowfall in late winter and early spring than does the Northern
Fescue Subregion (SCA4) (Achuff 1994).
Mean daily temperature in the Foothills Fescue ranges from 3.8 o C at Whiskey Gap and
High River, to 5.4 o C at Cardston (Table 2). Cardston is highly influenced by chinooks, in
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