Summer arrives softly in Pictou, cooler than in 88% of Canadian towns
In January the night’s low is typically −8.9°C. By precipitation alone, it ranks wetter than 83% of Canadian towns. Temperatures cover 32°C across the year, low to high. Homes need heating from November to May, the months averaging under 10°C.
ECCC publishes no normals for Pictou itself; the figures are those of Caribou Point, 10 km north.
A year in Pictou at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Pictou’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Pictou feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
133 frost days and 77 days above 20°C a year
From November 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
1,134 mm of precipitation in a typical year
The most falls in October, the least in July. Some 124 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Precipitation and snowfall: Tatamagouche, 41 km away (Caribou Point records no complete year of either).
Snowfall: about 187 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs November to April; January brings the most, about 53 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Living with Pictou’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Count on some 24 days a year when the wind makes it feel below −20.
The humidex tops 30 on about 24 days a year: muggy days to plan around.
A typical year is calm by definition; Pictou’s hazards page covers the exceptions.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Caribou Point
The page’s figures are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Caribou Point, one of its 450 normals locations.
| Distance from the town | 10 km north |
| Station altitude | 2 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Tatamagouche, 41 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −25.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.6°C |
| Average wind | 19.9 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Tatamagouche, 41 km |
How Pictou compares
Against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from its own normals location; the dots are the other locations those towns use in Nova Scotia.
Nearby towns’ climate
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Pictou’s own would show the same figures). No closer places have figures: these lie 42–56 km from Pictou.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pictou Caribou Point | 23.1°C | −8.9°C | 1,134 mm |
| Murray River, Part 1 42 km · Alliston | 24.3°C 1.2°C warmer | −9.7°C 0.8°C colder | 1,263 mm |
| Colchester County, Subdivision B 51 km · Debert | 25.0°C 1.9°C warmer | −12.0°C 3.1°C colder | 1,179 mm |
| Antigonish County, Subdivision A 52 km · Collegeville | 24.5°C 1.4°C warmer | −10.4°C 1.5°C colder | 1,122 mm |
Pictou weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1.3°C | −8.9°C | −5.1°C | 92 mm | 53 cm |
| February | −1.5°C | −9.2°C | −5.4°C | 75 mm | 46 cm |
| March | 1.5°C | −5.1°C | −1.8°C | 81 mm | 35 cm |
| April | 6.5°C | 0.1°C | 3.3°C | 79 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 12.8°C | 5.5°C | 9.1°C | 81 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 18.3°C | 10.9°C | 14.6°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.1°C | 15.6°C | 19.4°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.0°C | 15.9°C | 19.5°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 19.6°C | 12.4°C | 16.0°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.6°C | 7.3°C | 10.5°C | 119 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 8.0°C | 1.8°C | 4.9°C | 118 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 2.7°C | −3.7°C | −0.5°C | 111 mm | 34 cm |
| Year | 10.5°C | 3.5°C | 7.0°C | 1,134 mm | 187 cm |
From year to year, January moves by 2.2°C, more than any month, and August least
Each bar spans a month’s coldest and warmest readings over thirty years; April’s run from −12.5°C in 1995 to 29.1°C in 2009.
Where Pictou’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Caribou Point: the nearest of its locations with every month’s 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: 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, 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 Pictou’s climate
How warm does Pictou get in summer?
On a normal day in July the thermometer climbs to 23.1°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Pictou get in winter?
Deep winter means February, when nights average −9.2°C.
How much rain and snow does Pictou get?
A normal year brings 1,134 mm, snow included as water: October is wettest at 119 mm, July driest at 70 mm.
Are these figures for Pictou itself?
The figures are ECCC’s for Caribou Point; Pictou has no normals station.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Pictou →
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).