Photo: WayeMason · CC BY-SA 3.0More rain and snow fall on Halifax than on 95% of Canadian towns: 1,414 mm a year
High summer brings afternoon highs near 22.7°C. The gap between a January night and a July afternoon is 32°C. Its July afternoons are the coolest among its 4 nearest neighbours. The heating season runs November to May: each of those months averages under 10°C.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Shearwater station, 9.7 km south-east.
A year in Halifax at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Halifax’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Halifax feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 133 frosts and 82 warm days a year
From October to April frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
1,414 mm of precipitation in a typical year
December is the wettest month and August the driest. On about 124 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 215 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs November to May; January brings the most, about 54 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Shearwater publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 23 km away.
Heating a home in Halifax
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to May.
Warm days count for nothing; each colder day adds how far its mean sits below 18°C. By this count, homes here need less heating than 71% of Canadian towns.
Living with Halifax’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Seedlings can go out once the average last frost, around 30 April, has passed; autumn’s first, near 29 October, ends a season of about 181 days.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Bitter wind chill, under −20, comes on about 15 days a year.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 19 days a year.
Extremes don’t show in averages: floods, wildfire smoke and ice storms are on Halifax’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Shearwater
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Shearwater are 3 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 9.7 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 44 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 23 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −26.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.3°C |
| Average wind | 14.3 km/h on average, most often from the north-west |
| Next-nearest location | Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 23 km |
How Halifax 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 Nova Scotia.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around Halifax whose figures come from another normals location. No closer places have figures: these lie 38–55 km from Halifax.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax Shearwater | 22.7°C | −8.3°C | 1,414 mm |
| Enfield 38 km · Halifax Stanfield (Airport) | 24.2°C 1.5°C warmer | −10.1°C 1.8°C colder | 1,393 mm |
| Stewiacke 53 km · Upper Stewiacke | 25.1°C 2.4°C warmer | −11.6°C 3.3°C colder | 1,277 mm |
| Windsor 54 km · Waterville Cambridge | 25.9°C 3.2°C warmer | −9.1°C 0.8°C colder | 1,216 mm |
| Chester 55 km · Bridgewater | 25.5°C 2.8°C warmer | −10.2°C 1.9°C colder | 1,561 mm |
Halifax weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.2°C | −8.3°C | −4.1°C | 124 mm | 54 cm |
| February | 0.6°C | −7.9°C | −3.7°C | 114 mm | 44 cm |
| March | 3.7°C | −4.3°C | −0.3°C | 120 mm | 34 cm |
| April | 8.6°C | 0.4°C | 4.5°C | 108 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 14.0°C | 5.0°C | 9.5°C | 115 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 18.9°C | 9.9°C | 14.4°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.7°C | 14.3°C | 18.5°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.3°C | 14.7°C | 19.1°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.1°C | 11.3°C | 15.8°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14.2°C | 6.2°C | 10.2°C | 141 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 8.6°C | 1.3°C | 5.0°C | 135 mm | 19 cm |
| December | 3.6°C | −3.9°C | −0.2°C | 156 mm | 44 cm |
| Year | 11.6°C | 3.2°C | 7.4°C | 1,414 mm | 215 cm |
January varies most from one year to the next (2.0°C), August least
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high since 1991. March spans the most, from −19.1°C (1992) to 28.3°C (2012).
Where Halifax’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Shearwater from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- 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 Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, each read from its own nearest location; city totals and reserves are left out.
- 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 Halifax’s climate
How warm does Halifax get in summer?
August is the warmest month, with average highs of 23.3°C.
How cold does Halifax get in winter?
A typical January night falls to −8.3°C, the year’s low point.
How much rain and snow does Halifax get?
1,414 mm a year counting snow as water. The wettest month is December (156 mm); the driest, August (94 mm).
Are these figures for Halifax itself?
Yes: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Shearwater, which is in Halifax.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Halifax →
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).