Few Canadian towns get more snow than Dalhousie: about 337 cm a year
Peak summer warmth arrives in July, with afternoons near 23.8°C. Its January nights bite harder than in 77% of Canadian towns. A year here swings 40°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. An umbrella or a shovel earns its place on about 130 days a year with 1 mm or more.
ECCC publishes no normals for Dalhousie itself; the figures are those of Charlo, 15 km south-east.
A year in Dalhousie at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Dalhousie’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in New Brunswick beside it.
What a year in Dalhousie feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
About 182 frosts and 82 warm days a year
The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. On about 23 nights a year the air falls below −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 1,011 mm a year
The most falls in July, the least in February.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
About 337 cm of snow a year
From October to May snow is likely; January is the peak, at about 71 cm. 5th snowiest of 61 towns of 2,500+ in New Brunswick.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
ECCC’s Charlo normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Bathurst, 73 km away.
Heating a home in Dalhousie
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Warm days count for nothing; each colder day adds how far its mean sits below 18°C. A house here needs more heating than 81% of Canadian towns.
Living with Dalhousie’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Seedlings can go out once the average last frost, around 18 May, has passed; autumn’s first, near 1 October, ends a season of about 135 days.
Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Frostbite weather, a wind chill under −20, turns up on about 56 days a year.
The air feels heavier than 30 on the humidex for about 21 days a year.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Dalhousie’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Charlo
ECCC builds the Charlo normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 15 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 40 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Bathurst, 73 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −31.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.7°C |
| Average wind | 13.2 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Upsalquitch Lake, 65 km |
How Dalhousie compares
Placed among 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, each on its nearest normals location; each dot is another location used in New Brunswick.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Dalhousie’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 62–67 km from Dalhousie.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dalhousie Charlo | 23.8°C | −16.2°C | 1,011 mm |
| Caplan 62 km · New Carlisle | 22.7°C 1.1°C cooler | −14.2°C 2.0°C milder | 1,095 mm |
| Beresford 63 km · Bathurst | 25.1°C 1.3°C warmer | −16.0°C about the same | 1,118 mm |
| Causapscal 65 km · Causapscal | 23.8°C about the same | −19.2°C 3.0°C colder | 932 mm |
Dalhousie weather by month
Month by month, 1991–2020: the usual high, low and mean, the rain and snow, and the snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −7.0°C | −16.2°C | −11.7°C | 71 mm | 71 cm |
| February | −5.5°C | −15.6°C | −10.6°C | 65 mm | 69 cm |
| March | 0.0°C | −9.8°C | −4.9°C | 79 mm | 68 cm |
| April | 6.5°C | −2.5°C | 2.0°C | 69 mm | 30 cm |
| May | 14.8°C | 3.4°C | 9.2°C | 92 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 20.5°C | 9.2°C | 14.8°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.8°C | 13.0°C | 18.4°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.2°C | 12.1°C | 17.7°C | 82 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 18.2°C | 7.3°C | 12.8°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 10.7°C | 2.1°C | 6.4°C | 94 mm | 6 cm |
| November | 3.5°C | −3.6°C | −0.1°C | 87 mm | 22 cm |
| December | −3.0°C | −10.6°C | −6.8°C | 76 mm | 68 cm |
| Year | 8.8°C | −0.9°C | 3.9°C | 1,011 mm | 337 cm |
February varies most from one year to the next (2.7°C), August least
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −30.1°C in 2001 and a high of 22.6°C in 2012.
Where Dalhousie’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Charlo, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Other locations: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- Comparisons: every place of 2,500+ in Canada but the city hubs and the reserves, each on its nearest ECCC location.
- Not on this page: sunshine (no 1991–2020 normals exist for it) and any altitude adjustment, since there is no elevation for the town itself.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Dalhousie’s climate
How warm does Dalhousie get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 23.8°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Dalhousie get in winter?
Overnight lows average −16.2°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Dalhousie get?
A normal year brings 1,011 mm, snow included as water: July is wettest at 104 mm, February driest at 65 mm.
Are these figures for Dalhousie itself?
No, the station behind them is Charlo, beyond Dalhousie’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Dalhousie →
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).