More rain and snow fall on Cole Harbour than on 95% of Canadian towns: 1,414 mm a year
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 22.7°C. The seasons are far apart: from a winter night to a summer afternoon the average spans 32°C. None of its 4 nearest neighbours has cooler July afternoons. Plan time outside from June to September, when highs sit at 19–23°C.
Borrowed figures: Cole Harbour has no normals station, so these come from Shearwater, 3.9 km south.
A year in Cole Harbour at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Cole Harbour’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Cole Harbour feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
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
Rain and melted snow: about 1,414 mm a year
December is the wettest month and August the driest. Some 124 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
215 cm of snow in a typical 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
Snowfall: Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 24 km away (Shearwater records no complete year of it).
Heating a home in Cole Harbour
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to May.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. In heating terms, homes need less heating than 71% of Canadian towns.
Living with Cole Harbour’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 181 days, roughly 30 April to 29 October.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Roughly 15 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
Roughly 19 days a year feel hotter than 30 once humidity is counted.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Cole Harbour’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 | 3.9 km south |
| Station altitude | 44 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 24 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), 24 km |
How Cole Harbour compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Nova Scotia.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Cole Harbour’s would only repeat its figures. Cole Harbour has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 42–63 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Harbour Shearwater | 22.7°C | −8.3°C | 1,414 mm |
| Enfield 42 km · Halifax Stanfield (Airport) | 24.2°C 1.5°C warmer | −10.1°C 1.8°C colder | 1,393 mm |
| Stewiacke 54 km · Upper Stewiacke | 25.1°C 2.4°C warmer | −11.6°C 3.3°C colder | 1,277 mm |
| Windsor 62 km · Waterville Cambridge | 25.9°C 3.2°C warmer | −9.1°C 0.8°C colder | 1,216 mm |
| Chester 63 km · Bridgewater | 25.5°C 2.8°C warmer | −10.2°C 1.9°C colder | 1,561 mm |
Cole Harbour 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 | 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 |
A March here can run from −19.1°C to 28.3°C
Two years in three, January’s average falls within 2.0°C of its normal of −4.1°C; August keeps to within 0.7°C.
Where Cole Harbour’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Shearwater, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- Comparisons: Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500, each placed by its nearest location (city totals and reserves excluded).
- Not on this page: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Cole Harbour’s climate
How warm does Cole Harbour get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in August, with highs averaging 23.3°C.
How cold does Cole Harbour get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −8.3°C.
How much rain and snow does Cole Harbour get?
A normal year brings 1,414 mm, snow included as water: December is wettest at 156 mm, August driest at 94 mm.
Are these figures for Cole Harbour itself?
No, the station behind them is Shearwater, beyond Cole Harbour’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Cole Harbour →
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).