Photo: chester902 · Public domainKentville is wetter than 90% of Canadian towns: 1,216 mm of rain and snow a year
On a normal January night the air cools to about −9.1°C. Winter and summer sit 35°C apart. Its January nights stay gentler than in 73% of Canadian towns. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 148 days a year at 0°C or below.
Kentville has no ECCC normals station of its own: every figure here comes from Waterville Cambridge, 12 km west.
A year in Kentville at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Kentville’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Kentville feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 148 days, 20°C on 109
Frost comes from October to May; in January almost every night freezes. Heat of 30°C or more comes on about 7 days a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
1,216 mm of precipitation in a typical year
December is the wettest month and July the driest. Some 141 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 232 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from November to April, with about 66 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Kentville
90% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Measured against 18°C: each day’s shortfall in mean temperature, added over twelve months. Over a year, a home here needs less heating than 75% of Canadian towns.
Living with Kentville’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Between the last frost, near 19 May, and the first, near 1 October, lie about 134 frost-free days.
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 →The normals describe a typical year, not its worst days; the hazards page covers Kentville’s.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Waterville Cambridge
Every temperature, frost, snow and degree-day figure on this page is the 1991–2020 normal ECCC publishes for Waterville Cambridge.
| Distance from the town | 12 km west |
| Station altitude | 31 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | Yes |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −35.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.0°C |
| Next-nearest location | Greenwood, 35 km |
How Kentville 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Kentville’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 27–47 km from Kentville.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentville Waterville Cambridge | 25.9°C | −9.1°C | 1,216 mm |
| Kingston 27 km · Greenwood | 26.2°C about the same | −9.8°C 0.7°C colder | 1,137 mm |
| Cumberland County, Subdivision A 41 km · Parrsboro | 23.1°C 2.8°C cooler | −10.8°C 1.7°C colder | 1,247 mm |
Kentville 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 | −0.5°C | −9.1°C | −4.8°C | 113 mm | 66 cm |
| February | 0.1°C | −8.9°C | −4.4°C | 91 mm | 50 cm |
| March | 4.0°C | −4.9°C | −0.5°C | 97 mm | 39 cm |
| April | 10.4°C | 0.6°C | 5.5°C | 90 mm | 12 cm |
| May | 17.2°C | 5.7°C | 11.5°C | 88 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 22.2°C | 10.7°C | 16.5°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.9°C | 14.6°C | 20.3°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.5°C | 13.8°C | 19.7°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21.2°C | 10.1°C | 15.6°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14.4°C | 4.9°C | 9.7°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 8.5°C | 0.6°C | 4.6°C | 125 mm | 15 cm |
| December | 2.8°C | −4.7°C | −1.0°C | 134 mm | 49 cm |
| Year | 12.6°C | 2.8°C | 7.7°C | 1,216 mm | 232 cm |
A February here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 2.3°C; the steadiest month is June
Over 1991–2020, February saw both −35.5°C (1993) and 17.5°C (2000), the widest span of any month.
Where Kentville’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Waterville Cambridge from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Comparisons: every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, each read from its own nearest location; city totals and reserves are left out.
- Not on this page: sunshine (no 1991–2020 normals exist for it) and any altitude adjustment, since there is no elevation for the town itself.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Kentville’s climate
How warm does Kentville get in summer?
In July, the warmest month, the typical high is 25.9°C.
How cold does Kentville get in winter?
Lows sink to −9.1°C on an average January night.
How much rain and snow does Kentville get?
About 1,216 mm a year, rain and melted snow together. December is the wettest month (134 mm) and July the driest (79 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Roughly 86 days a year start with snow cover of 1 cm or more.
Are these figures for Kentville itself?
They are the closest available: the normals for Waterville Cambridge, since Kentville has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Kentville →
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).