Precipitation in Westphal tops that of 95% of Canadian towns: 1,414 mm a year
In January the night’s low is typically −8.3°C. Temperatures cover 32°C across the year, low to high. Its July afternoons are the coolest among its 4 nearest neighbours. Windshields need scraping on about 133 mornings a year, the days the air reaches 0°C or below.
These are not Westphal’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Shearwater, 7.1 km south.
A year in Westphal at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Westphal’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Westphal feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
Frost on 133 days, 20°C on 82
Frost comes from October to April; in January almost every night freezes.
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. On about 124 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
About 215 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from November to May, with about 54 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Shearwater publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 21 km away.
Heating a home in Westphal
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. A house here needs less heating than 71% of Canadian towns.
Living with Westphal’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 181 days, roughly 30 April to 29 October.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Expect around 15 days a year when the wind chill sinks below −20.
About 19 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
For the weather that does damage, from ice storms to floods, see Westphal’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 | 7.1 km south |
| Station altitude | 44 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 21 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), 21 km |
How Westphal 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 Westphal’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 38–63 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Westphal.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westphal Shearwater | 22.7°C | −8.3°C | 1,414 mm |
| Enfield 38 km · Halifax Stanfield (Airport) | 24.2°C 1.5°C warmer | −10.1°C 1.8°C colder | 1,393 mm |
| Stewiacke 50 km · Upper Stewiacke | 25.1°C 2.4°C warmer | −11.6°C 3.3°C colder | 1,277 mm |
| Windsor 60 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 |
Westphal 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 |
March has run from −19.1°C to 28.3°C in thirty years
Year to year, January varies most (a standard deviation of 2.0°C around −4.1°C) and August least (0.7°C).
Where Westphal’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: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- Comparisons: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest location.
- 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 Westphal’s climate
How warm does Westphal get in summer?
Of all twelve months, August has the warmest afternoons, about 23.3°C.
How cold does Westphal get in winter?
Expect nights around −8.3°C in January; no month is colder.
How much rain and snow does Westphal get?
December is the wettest month at 156 mm and August the driest at 94 mm, for 1,414 mm over the year.
Are these figures for Westphal itself?
No, the station behind them is Shearwater, beyond Westphal’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Westphal →
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).