More rain and snow fall on Portland Estates than on 95% of Canadian towns: 1,414 mm a year
On a normal January night the air cools to about −8.3°C. Temperatures cover 32°C across the year, low to high. In July, afternoons here are cooler than in 94% of Canadian towns. From June to September, highs of 19–23°C make it easy to spend the day outdoors.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Portland Estates is Shearwater, 3.7 km south-east, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Portland Estates at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Portland Estates’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Portland Estates 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
The most falls in December, the least in August. About 124 days a year bring 1 mm 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 Portland Estates
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to May.
Behind the figure: the degrees each day’s mean falls under 18°C, summed for the year. A house here needs less heating than 71% of Canadian towns.
Living with Portland Estates’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Wait until about 30 April to plant out; frost tends to come back around 29 October, about 181 days later.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 15 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
Expect around 19 sticky days a year with the humidex above 30.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Portland Estates’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →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 | 3.7 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 44 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 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 Portland Estates 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Portland Estates’s own would show the same figures). Portland Estates has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 41–60 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Estates Shearwater | 22.7°C | −8.3°C | 1,414 mm |
| Enfield 41 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 |
| Chester 60 km · Bridgewater | 25.5°C 2.8°C warmer | −10.2°C 1.9°C colder | 1,561 mm |
| Windsor 60 km · Waterville Cambridge | 25.9°C 3.2°C warmer | −9.1°C 0.8°C colder | 1,216 mm |
Portland Estates 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 |
From year to year, January moves by 2.0°C, more than any month, and August least
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than March, between −19.1°C (1992) and 28.3°C (2012).
Where Portland Estates’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Shearwater: the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- Other locations: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- 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: 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 Portland Estates’s climate
How warm does Portland Estates get in summer?
On a normal day in August the thermometer climbs to 23.3°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Portland Estates get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −8.3°C.
How much rain and snow does Portland Estates get?
Measured as water, a year brings 1,414 mm: 156 mm in December, the wettest month, and 94 mm in August, the driest.
Are these figures for Portland Estates itself?
Not directly: Portland Estates has no ECCC normals of its own, and Shearwater stands in for it.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Portland Estates →
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).