Climate in Eastern Passage · ECCC 1991–2020 normals

Eastern Passage is wetter than 95% of Canadian towns: 1,414 mm of rain and snow a year

July afternoons average 22.7°C. Expect the most rain and snow in December and the least in August. None of its 4 nearest neighbours has cooler July afternoons. Have the furnace checked before November to May, the months that average under 10°C.

July afternoons: cooler than 94% of Canadian towns

January nights: milder than 82% of Canadian towns

Rain and snow a year: wetter than 95% of Canadian towns

1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Shearwater station, 2.4 km north-west.

July high

22.7°C

Typical Canadian town 25.5°C

January low

−8.3°C

Typical Canadian town −13.5°C

Rain & snow a year

1,414 mm

Typical Canadian town 883 mm

Snowfall a year

215 cm

Typical Canadian town 141 cm

Frost days

133

a year at 0°C or below

Frost-free days

181

30 Apr to 29 Oct

A year in Eastern Passage at a glance

Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.

Jan0°C−8°CColdest nightsSnowiest

Feb1°C−8°C

Mar4°C−4°C

Apr9°C0°CLast frost ~30 Apr

May14°C5°C

Jun19°C10°C

Jul23°C14°C

Aug23°C15°CWarmest

Sep20°C11°C

Oct14°C6°CFirst frost ~29 Oct

Nov now9°C1°C

Dec4°C−4°CWettest

What stands out about Eastern Passage’s climate

Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.

Wetter than 95% of Canadian townsAbout 1,414 mm of rain and melted snow a year; December is the wettest month and August the driest.Cooler than 94% of Canadian townsJuly afternoons average 22.7°C; August is warmer still.A narrower year than 92% of Canadian townsFrom January nights to July afternoons, the year spans 31.0°C.

A normal year

What a year in Eastern Passage feels like

Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.

Winter

1°C / −7°C

394 mm, with 142 cm of snow: the wettest season

Spring

9°C / 0°C

342 mm, with 53 cm of snow

Summer

22°C / 13°C

297 mm of rain and snow

Autumn

14°C / 6°C

382 mm, with 20 cm of snow

−15°

−10°

−5°

0°

5°

10°

15°

20°

25°

30°

0°C−8°C

1°C−8°C

4°C−4°C

9°C0°C

14°C5°C

19°C10°C

23°C14°C

23°C15°C

20°C11°C

14°C6°C

9°C1°C

4°C−4°C

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Best months to be outsideJunJulAugSepHighs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more

Frost & warm days

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.

181 frost-free days · average dates, 1991–2020

30 Apr 29 Oct

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

133

Frost days a year (0°C or below)

Fewer frosts than 78% of Canadian towns

Days that stay below 0°C

Days a year above 20°C

Days a year above 30°C

Frost days by month

Average days at 0°C or below

JFMAMJJASOND

Days above 20°C by month

Average days

JFMAMJJASOND

Rain & snow

Rain and melted snow: about 1,414 mm a year

Some 124 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.

1,414 mm

Rain and snow a year

Wetter than 95% of Canadian towns

156 mm

December, the wettest month

94 mm

August, the driest month

Rain and snow by month

Millimetres

156 mm

JFMAMJJASOND

Snow

215 cm of snow in a typical year

From November to May snow is likely; January is the peak, at about 54 cm.

215 cm

Snowfall a year

Snowier than 75% of Canadian towns

Days a year with 0.2 cm of snow or more

6 cm

Snow on the ground at the end of January, the deepest month

Snowfall by month

Centimetres

54 cm

JFMAMJJASOND

Snow on the ground by month

Centimetres at month’s end

6 cm

JFMAMJJASOND

Shearwater publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 30 km away.

Heating

Heating a home in Eastern Passage

88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to May.

3,989 heating degree days (below 18°C)a year, 1991–2020

1,857 growing degree days (above 5°C)a year, 1991–2020

Warm days count for nothing; each colder day adds how far its mean sits below 18°C. In heating terms, homes need less heating than 71% of Canadian towns.

Living here

Living with Eastern Passage’s climate

Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.

The garden window

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.

Get outside

Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.

Parks & trails →

Wind chill

Wind chill falls below −20 on about 15 days a year: cover skin and dress in layers.

Humidex

Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 19 days a year.

Storms and extremes

A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Eastern Passage’s hazards page looks at those.

Flood & hazards →

Weather station

ECCC’s normals location: Shearwater

ECCC builds the Shearwater normals from 3 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.

Distance from the town	2.4 km north-west
Station altitude	44 m
Completeness	meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule
WMO standard normals	No
Snowfall from	Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 30 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), 30 km

Compared with other towns

How Eastern Passage 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.

July afternoons22.7°C

Eastern PassageMedian Canadian town

16°C18°C20°C22°C24°C26°C28°C

Cooler than 94% of Canadian towns

January nights−8.3°C

Eastern PassageMedian Canadian town

−20°C−15°C−10°C−5°C0°C

Milder than 82% of Canadian towns

Rain and snow a year1,414 mm

Eastern PassageMedian Canadian town

5001,0001,5002,000

Wetter than 95% of Canadian towns

Snowfall a year215 cm

Eastern PassageMedian Canadian town

100200300400

Snowier than 75% of Canadian towns

Next door

Nearby towns’ climate

The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Eastern Passage’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest places to Eastern Passage with figures are 47–66 km away.

Town	July high	January low	Rain & snow
Eastern Passage Shearwater	22.7°C	−8.3°C	1,414 mm
Enfield 47 km · Halifax Stanfield (Airport)	24.2°C 1.5°C warmer	−10.1°C 1.8°C colder	1,393 mm
Stewiacke 59 km · Upper Stewiacke	25.1°C 2.4°C warmer	−11.6°C 3.3°C colder	1,277 mm
Chester 63 km · Bridgewater	25.5°C 2.8°C warmer	−10.2°C 1.9°C colder	1,561 mm
Windsor 66 km · Waterville Cambridge	25.9°C 3.2°C warmer	−9.1°C 0.8°C colder	1,216 mm

Month by month

Eastern Passage 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

Year to year

Two years in three, January’s average lands within 2.0°C of normal, against the steadier August

Over 1991–2020, March saw both −19.1°C (1992) and 28.3°C (2012), the widest span of any month.

−30°

−20°

−10°

0°

10°

20°

30°

40°

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Record low to record high, 1991–2020Normal

Sources

Where Eastern Passage’s numbers come from

Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.

Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Shearwater (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
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: 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, not in ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals, and the effect of the town’s height, for which there is no figure.

Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Questions about Eastern Passage’s climate

How warm does Eastern Passage get in summer?

Midsummer means August, with afternoons near 23.3°C on a typical day.

How cold does Eastern Passage get in winter?

On a normal January night the air drops to −8.3°C, the coldest of the year.

How much rain and snow does Eastern Passage get?

Precipitation totals 1,414 mm a year, with December the wettest month (156 mm) and August the driest (94 mm).

Are these figures for Eastern Passage itself?

Yes: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Shearwater, which is in Eastern Passage.

Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Eastern Passage →

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).