Wet weather: 1,414 mm of rain and snow a year falls on South End, more than on 95% of Canadian towns
July afternoons average 22.7°C. The gap between a January night and a July afternoon is 32°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 94% of Canadian towns. Plan for rain or snow on about 124 days a year, the days with 1 mm or more.
Borrowed figures: South End has no normals station, so these come from Shearwater, 7.8 km east.
A year in South End at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about South End’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in South End 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
December brings the most rain and snow; August, the least.
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), 30 km away.
Heating a home in South End
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to May.
Each day the mean sits under 18°C adds its shortfall; a year’s total is its heating degree days. Over a year, a home here needs less heating than 71% of Canadian towns.
Living with South End’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
On average the last spring frost comes around 30 April and the first autumn frost around 29 October: about 181 frost-free days between.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep, with 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.
Humid summer days, the humidex above 30, number about 19 a year.
Severe weather is a separate story from the averages: see South End’s hazards page.
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 | 7.8 km east |
| 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 |
How South End 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 South End’s own would show the same figures). No closer places have figures: these lie 45–60 km from South End.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| South End Shearwater | 22.7°C | −8.3°C | 1,414 mm |
| Enfield 45 km · Halifax Stanfield (Airport) | 24.2°C 1.5°C warmer | −10.1°C 1.8°C colder | 1,393 mm |
| Chester 54 km · Bridgewater | 25.5°C 2.8°C warmer | −10.2°C 1.9°C colder | 1,561 mm |
| Windsor 58 km · Waterville Cambridge | 25.9°C 3.2°C warmer | −9.1°C 0.8°C colder | 1,216 mm |
| Stewiacke 60 km · Upper Stewiacke | 25.1°C 2.4°C warmer | −11.6°C 3.3°C colder | 1,277 mm |
South End 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 |
In March, anything from −19.1°C to 28.3°C
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high over 1991–2020; January is the month whose average wanders most from year to year (±2.0°C around −4.1°C), August the one that wanders least (±0.7°C).
Where South End’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s normals for Shearwater, 1991–2020, chosen as the nearest location with a full temperature record.
- 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: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- 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 South End’s climate
How warm does South End get in summer?
August is the warmest month, with average highs of 23.3°C.
How cold does South End get in winter?
Midwinter means January, when a typical night reaches −8.3°C.
How much rain and snow does South End get?
Count on roughly 1,414 mm a year, heaviest in December (156 mm) and lightest in August (94 mm).
Are these figures for South End itself?
They describe Shearwater, the nearest normals location, rather than South End itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for South End →
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).