Brooks

History

The area that is now Brooks was used as a bison-hunting ground for the Blackfoot and Crow tribes. After Treaty 7 was signed in 1877, homesteaders took advantage of the Dominion Lands Act to move into the area to begin farming. Before 1904, the area still did not have a name. Through a contest sponsored by the Postmaster General, the area was named after Noel Edgell Brooks (1865–1926), a Canadian Pacific Railway Divisional Engineer from Calgary. Brooks was incorporated as a village on July 14, 1910, and then as a town on September 8, 1911. Brooks incorporated as a city on September 1, 2005 In 2010, Brooks celebrated the centennial of its incorporation as a village in 1910.

Geography

Brooks is located in the Grassland Natural Region of Alberta. The area surrounding Brooks is dry mixed grass/shortgrass prairie. Located in the steppe region known as the Palliser's Triangle, Brooks has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification 'BSk'). Winters are quite dry and cold, with little snowfall compared to the rest of Canada. Chinook winds, though less common than in areas west and especially southwest of Brooks, are still common and ameliorate the cold winter temperatures temporarily when they pass over. Wide diurnal temperature ranges are regular, due to the aridity and moderately high elevation. Low humidity is prevalent throughout the year. Most of the relatively scant annual precipitation occurs in late spring and summer, often in the form of thunderstorms. On average, the coldest month is January, with an average temperature of while the warmest is July, with an average temperature of . The driest month is February, with an average monthly precipitation of , while the wettest month is June, with an average of . Annual precipitation is low, with an average of .(rain/rain days, snow/snow days 1981–2010) (Sunshine 1961–1990) |source = }}

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,565
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,522
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,488
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,415
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,392
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,378
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  1,332
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  1,321

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2014-09-12
  13 km ENE of Picture Butte, Canada