Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHardly any Canadian towns see more snow than Nelson, with about 312 cm a year
January nights here settle around −15.3°C. The year swings widely: the coldest month’s nights and the warmest month’s afternoons are 41°C apart. Precipitation is plentiful here, more than falls on 80% of Canadian towns. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings come into their own from June to September, with highs of 20–26°C.
Borrowed figures: Nelson has no normals station, so these come from Miramichi, 21 km north-east.
A year in Nelson at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Nelson’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in New Brunswick beside it.
What a year in Nelson feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 177 frosts and 101 warm days a year
Frost comes from October to May; in January almost every night freezes. On about 21 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 1,083 mm of rain and snow a year
October is the wettest month and February the driest. About 124 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
About 312 cm of snow a year
Snow falls from October to May, most of all in January (about 82 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
ECCC’s Miramichi normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Doaktown, 52 km away.
Heating a home in Nelson
89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Each day the mean sits under 18°C adds its shortfall; a year’s total is its heating degree days.
Living with Nelson’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
About 133 days a year pass without frost, from an average last frost of 23 May to a first of 5 October.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Bitter wind chill, under −20, comes on about 42 days a year.
The air feels heavier than 30 on the humidex for about 36 days a year.
Extremes don’t show in averages: floods, wildfire smoke and ice storms are on Nelson’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Miramichi
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Miramichi are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 21 km north-east |
| Station altitude | 33 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Doaktown, 52 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −34.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.2°C |
| Average wind | 12.3 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Kouchibougauac, 51 km |
How Nelson 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
Places around Nelson whose figures come from another normals location. No closer place has figures: this one lies 52 km from Nelson.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson Miramichi | 25.5°C | −15.3°C | 1,083 mm |
| Saint-Louis 52 km · Kouchibougauac | 25.8°C about the same | −14.1°C 1.2°C milder | 1,240 mm |
Nelson 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 | −4.3°C | −15.3°C | −9.8°C | 87 mm | 82 cm |
| February | −3.0°C | −14.8°C | −8.9°C | 72 mm | 63 cm |
| March | 2.0°C | −8.8°C | −3.4°C | 94 mm | 61 cm |
| April | 8.6°C | −2.0°C | 3.3°C | 84 mm | 19 cm |
| May | 16.3°C | 4.0°C | 10.2°C | 97 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 22.0°C | 9.8°C | 15.9°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.5°C | 13.8°C | 19.6°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24.8°C | 12.9°C | 18.8°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.2°C | 8.3°C | 14.3°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12.7°C | 2.5°C | 7.6°C | 113 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 5.5°C | −2.9°C | 1.3°C | 93 mm | 24 cm |
| December | −0.8°C | −9.6°C | −5.2°C | 89 mm | 61 cm |
| Year | 10.8°C | −0.2°C | 5.3°C | 1,083 mm | 312 cm |
The most changeable month: February, give or take 2.5°C; the steadiest, August
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −31.4°C in 1997 and a high of 26.3°C in 2012.
Where Nelson’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s normals for Miramichi, 1991–2020, chosen as the nearest location with a full temperature record.
- 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: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- Not on this page: sunshine, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Nelson’s climate
How warm does Nelson get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 25.5°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Nelson get in winter?
Overnight lows average −15.3°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Nelson get?
Over twelve months, rain and melted snow come to 1,083 mm; the range runs from 72 mm in February to 113 mm in October.
Are these figures for Nelson itself?
Only indirectly: the readings are made at Miramichi, outside Nelson.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Nelson →
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).