Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Hardly any Canadian towns see more snow than Dalhousie, with about 337 cm a year
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at −16.2°C on average. The gap between a January night and a July afternoon is 40°C. In January, nights here are colder than in 77% of Canadian towns. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 182 days a year at 0°C or below.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Dalhousie is Charlo, 9.7 km south, and every figure on this page is its.
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
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 182 days, 20°C on 82
From September to May frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost 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
About 1,011 mm of rain and snow a year
July is the wettest month and February the driest. About 130 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
337 cm of snow in a typical year
The snow season runs October to May; January brings the most, about 71 cm. 5th snowiest of 60 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, 67 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.
The count adds up, day by day, how far the mean temperature falls short of 18°C. By this count, homes here need 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.
The frost-free stretch runs from about 18 May to about 1 October, some 135 days in a normal year.
Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 56 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
About 21 days a year turn sultry, with the humidex past 30.
Bad-weather days, from blizzards to floods, get their own page for Dalhousie: the hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Charlo
Charlo is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 9.7 km south |
| Station altitude | 40 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Bathurst, 67 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 | Bathurst, 67 km |
How Dalhousie compares
Against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from its own normals location; the dots are the other locations those towns use in New Brunswick.
Nearby towns’ climate
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Dalhousie’s own would show the same figures). No closer places have figures: these lie 52–60 km from Dalhousie.
Dalhousie weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature, rain and snow (as water) and snowfall by month, 1991–2020.
| 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 |
March has run from −30.1°C to 22.6°C in thirty years
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 2.7°C around its normal of −10.6°C, the widest of any month, while August’s shifts by 0.9°C.
Where Dalhousie’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s normals for Charlo, 1991–2020, chosen as the nearest location with a full temperature record.
- Other locations: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- Not on this page: sunshine, absent from every 1991–2020 location, and an altitude correction, for want of the town’s own elevation.
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?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 23.8°C.
How cold does Dalhousie get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −16.2°C.
How much rain and snow does Dalhousie get?
Measured as water, a year brings 1,011 mm: 104 mm in July, the wettest month, and 65 mm in February, the driest.
Are these figures for Dalhousie itself?
Not exactly. Dalhousie lacks a normals station, so Charlo supplies the figures.
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).