Located in the steppe region known as Palliser's Triangle, Medicine Hat has a semi-arid, continental climate (Köppen climate classification BSk), with cold, dry winters and warm to hot summers. However, the winter cold is occasionally ameliorated by mild and dry chinook winds blowing from the west, and hot summer daytime temperatures are made more tolerable by low humidity and rapid cooling in the evening hours. Medicine Hat receives less precipitation annually than most other cities on the Canadian Prairies and plentiful sunshine (widely known as "The sunniest city in Canada"), making it a popular retirement city. Maximum precipitation typically occurs in the late spring and early summer
