Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Few Canadian towns have cooler summers than Fortune
January nights here settle around −6.9°C. The seasons are far apart: from a winter night to a summer afternoon the average spans 28°C. Precipitation is plentiful here, more than falls on 96% of Canadian towns. Long walks are most pleasant from July to September, when afternoons reach 17–20°C.
Fortune has no ECCC normals station of its own: every figure here comes from St. Lawrence, 38 km south-east.
A year in Fortune at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Fortune’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador beside it.
What a year in Fortune feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
153 frost days and 35 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs October to May, and January freezes nearly every night.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 1,505 mm a year
October is the wettest month and June the driest. 10th wettest of 33 towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador. On about 149 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
173 cm of snow in a typical year
Expect snow from November to April, with about 54 cm in January, the snowiest month. 31st snowiest of 32 towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
St. Lawrence publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Harbour Breton, 44 km away.
Heating a home in Fortune
80% 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.
Living with Fortune’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Plan time outside for Jul, Aug and Sep: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →About 9 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 6 days a year.
For the weather that does damage, from ice storms to floods, see Fortune’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: St. Lawrence
St. Lawrence is a composite: ECCC joins 3 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 38 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 49 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Harbour Breton, 44 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −21.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 30.1°C |
| Average wind | 22.2 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Harbour Breton, 44 km |
How Fortune 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 Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around Fortune whose figures come from another normals location. Distances here run 45–158 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Fortune.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortune St. Lawrence | 18.8°C | −6.9°C | 1,505 mm |
| Harbour Breton 45 km · Harbour Breton | 17.3°C 1.5°C cooler | −7.1°C about the same | 1,486 mm |
| Placentia 143 km · Dunville/Argentia | 17.4°C 1.4°C cooler | −5.6°C 1.3°C milder | 1,133 mm |
| Burgeo 147 km · Burgeo | 17.3°C 1.5°C cooler | −7.8°C 0.9°C colder | 1,316 mm |
Fortune weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.1°C | −6.9°C | −3.4°C | 131 mm | 54 cm |
| February | −0.4°C | −7.4°C | −3.9°C | 112 mm | 40 cm |
| March | 1.7°C | −5.2°C | −1.8°C | 117 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 6.1°C | −1.5°C | 2.3°C | 104 mm | 9 cm |
| May | 10.9°C | 2.2°C | 6.6°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 14.9°C | 6.3°C | 10.6°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 18.8°C | 11.1°C | 15.0°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 20.1°C | 12.4°C | 16.2°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 17.2°C | 8.9°C | 13.1°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12.1°C | 4.5°C | 8.3°C | 162 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 7.5°C | 0.8°C | 4.1°C | 153 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 2.9°C | −3.5°C | −0.3°C | 158 mm | 39 cm |
| Year | 9.3°C | 1.8°C | 5.6°C | 1,505 mm | 173 cm |
A June here can run from −10.7°C to 27.8°C
February is the least predictable month: about two years in three its average lands within 1.8°C of the normal, −3.9°C. August is the steadiest, within 1.0°C.
Where Fortune’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, St. Lawrence, 1991–2020.
- 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: 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, 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 Fortune’s climate
How warm does Fortune get in summer?
The warmest month is August, when afternoons average 20.1°C.
How cold does Fortune get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in February, with lows near −7.4°C.
How much rain and snow does Fortune get?
Over twelve months, rain and melted snow come to 1,505 mm; the range runs from 103 mm in June to 162 mm in October.
Are these figures for Fortune itself?
No. ECCC measures normals at St. Lawrence, not in Fortune; the page uses the nearest it has.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Fortune →
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).