Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0Few Canadian towns have cooler summers than Guysborough
Deep winter brings January lows near −6.2°C. Of the 90 towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia, it has the mildest January nights. A year here swings 28°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings come into their own from July to September, with highs of 19–22°C.
ECCC publishes no normals for Guysborough itself; the figures are those of Hart Island, 31 km east.
A year in Guysborough at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Guysborough’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Guysborough feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
121 frost days a year
The frost season runs November to April, and January freezes nearly every night.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
1,122 mm of precipitation in a typical year
October is the wettest month and April the driest. 82nd wettest of 90 towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia. Some 133 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
ECCC’s Hart Island normals leave out precipitation and snow; both come from Collegeville here, 55 km away.
Snowfall: about 162 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs November to April; February brings the most, about 44 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Living with Guysborough’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Count on some 14 days a year when the wind makes it feel below −20.
The humidex tops 30 on about 8 days a year: muggy days to plan around.
A typical year is calm by definition; Guysborough’s hazards page covers the exceptions.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Hart Island
The page’s figures are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Hart Island, one of its 450 normals locations.
| Distance from the town | 31 km east |
| Station altitude | 8 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Collegeville, 55 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −24.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 31.4°C |
| Average wind | 24.4 km/h on average, most often from the south-west |
| Next-nearest location | Port Hawkesbury, 41 km |
How Guysborough 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 Nova Scotia.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around Guysborough whose figures come from another normals location. Distances here run 37–46 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Guysborough.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guysborough Hart Island | 20.3°C | −6.2°C | 1,122 mm |
| Port Hawkesbury 37 km · Port Hawkesbury | 23.2°C 2.9°C warmer | −9.9°C 3.7°C colder | 1,122 mm |
| St. Mary's 45 km · Collegeville | 24.5°C 4.2°C warmer | −10.4°C 4.2°C colder | 1,122 mm |
Guysborough 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 | 0.7°C | −6.2°C | −2.7°C | 81 mm | 35 cm |
| February | 0.0°C | −6.4°C | −3.2°C | 83 mm | 44 cm |
| March | 1.9°C | −3.7°C | −0.9°C | 83 mm | 27 cm |
| April | 5.8°C | 0.0°C | 3.0°C | 60 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 11.0°C | 4.0°C | 7.5°C | 78 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 15.7°C | 8.7°C | 12.2°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 20.3°C | 13.7°C | 17.0°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.7°C | 15.7°C | 18.8°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 18.8°C | 13.0°C | 15.9°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.4°C | 7.8°C | 10.6°C | 134 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 8.4°C | 2.7°C | 5.6°C | 130 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 3.9°C | −2.1°C | 0.9°C | 105 mm | 38 cm |
| Year | 10.1°C | 3.9°C | 7.1°C | 1,122 mm | 162 cm |
A December here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 1.6°C; the steadiest month is August
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high since 1991. March spans the most, from −18.5°C (2017) to 24.8°C (2012).
Where Guysborough’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Hart Island, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Other locations: ECCC blanks a month that fails its completeness rule, so the precipitation or snowfall here comes from the next location with all twelve months.
- Comparisons: the 2,500-plus towns and neighbourhoods of Canada, each read from its closest normals location; whole cities and reserves aren’t counted.
- 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 Guysborough’s climate
How warm does Guysborough get in summer?
On a normal day in August the thermometer climbs to 21.7°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Guysborough get in winter?
February nights average −6.4°C, the coldest of the year.
How much rain and snow does Guysborough get?
1,122 mm a year counting snow as water. The wettest month is October (134 mm); the driest, April (60 mm).
Are these figures for Guysborough itself?
They are the closest available: the normals for Hart Island, since Guysborough has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Guysborough →
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).