Wet weather: 1,414 mm of rain and snow a year falls on Hatchet Lake, more than on 95% of Canadian towns
January nights here settle around −8.3°C. Rain or snow is most frequent in December and least in August. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 94% of Canadian towns. An umbrella or a shovel earns its place on about 124 days a year with 1 mm or more.
No ECCC station in Hatchet Lake has 1991–2020 normals; the page reads Shearwater, 21 km north-east, instead.
A year in Hatchet Lake at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Hatchet Lake’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Hatchet Lake feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 133 days, 20°C on 82
The frost season runs October to April, 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 1,414 mm a year
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 215 cm in a normal year
Snow falls from November to May, most of all in January (about 54 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
ECCC’s Shearwater normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 42 km away.
Heating a home in Hatchet Lake
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to May.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together. A house here needs less heating than 71% of Canadian towns.
Living with Hatchet Lake’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.
For long days outdoors, Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →On some 15 days a year the wind chill drops past −20; mitts and a scarf earn their place.
About 19 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
The normals describe a typical year, not its worst days; the hazards page covers Hatchet Lake’s.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Shearwater
Shearwater is a composite: ECCC joins 3 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 21 km north-east |
| Station altitude | 44 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 42 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), 42 km |
How Hatchet Lake 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Hatchet Lake’s own would show the same figures). No closer places have figures: these lie 42–58 km from Hatchet Lake.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hatchet Lake Shearwater | 22.7°C | −8.3°C | 1,414 mm |
| Chester 42 km · Bridgewater | 25.5°C 2.8°C warmer | −10.2°C 1.9°C colder | 1,561 mm |
| Enfield 55 km · Halifax Stanfield (Airport) | 24.2°C 1.5°C warmer | −10.1°C 1.8°C colder | 1,393 mm |
| Windsor 58 km · Waterville Cambridge | 25.9°C 3.2°C warmer | −9.1°C 0.8°C colder | 1,216 mm |
Hatchet Lake 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 | 0.2°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
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −19.1°C in 1992 and a high of 28.3°C in 2012.
Where Hatchet Lake’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: 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: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- 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 Hatchet Lake’s climate
How warm does Hatchet Lake get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in August, at about 23.3°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Hatchet Lake get in winter?
A typical January night falls to −8.3°C, the year’s low point.
How much rain and snow does Hatchet Lake get?
The yearly total is about 1,414 mm. December gets 156 mm, the most of any month; August gets 94 mm, the least.
Are these figures for Hatchet Lake itself?
No, they come from Shearwater; ECCC keeps no 1991–2020 normals in Hatchet Lake itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Hatchet Lake →
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).