Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Precipitation in Truro tops that of 89% of Canadian towns: 1,179 mm a year
Deep winter brings January lows near −12.0°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 62% of Canadian towns. Rain or snow is most frequent in December and least in February. Expect about 170 frosty starts a year, days when the air falls to freezing.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Truro is Debert, 13 km north-west, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Truro at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Truro’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Nova Scotia beside it.
What a year in Truro feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
170 frost days and 97 days above 20°C a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. Some 11 nights a year drop under −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 1,179 mm a year
About 134 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
187 cm of snow in a typical year
The snow season runs November to April; January brings the most, about 53 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Debert publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Tatamagouche, 36 km away.
Heating a home in Truro
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Behind the figure: the degrees each day’s mean falls under 18°C, summed for the year.
Living with Truro’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
A normal year gives the garden about 115 frost-free days, roughly 1 June to 25 September.
Plan time outside for Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →About 27 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
Summer brings about 31 days when the humidex passes 30.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Truro’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Debert
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Debert are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 13 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 38 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Tatamagouche, 36 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −35.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 33.1°C |
| Average wind | 12.4 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Upper Stewiacke, 22 km |
How Truro 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
Places around Truro whose figures come from another normals location. Truro has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 8–46 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truro Debert | 25.0°C | −12.0°C | 1,179 mm |
| Colchester County, Subdivision C 8.0 km · Upper Stewiacke | 25.1°C about the same | −11.6°C about the same | 1,277 mm |
| Indian Brook 14 33 km · Halifax Stanfield (Airport) | 24.2°C 0.8°C cooler | −10.1°C 1.9°C milder | 1,393 mm |
| Pictou County, Subdivision A 46 km · Caribou Point | 23.1°C 1.9°C cooler | −8.9°C 3.1°C milder | 1,134 mm |
Truro 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 | −1.4°C | −12.0°C | −6.7°C | 91 mm | 53 cm |
| February | −0.9°C | −11.6°C | −6.2°C | 77 mm | 46 cm |
| March | 3.1°C | −7.1°C | −2.0°C | 81 mm | 35 cm |
| April | 9.4°C | −1.5°C | 4.0°C | 90 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 16.1°C | 3.6°C | 9.9°C | 89 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 21.0°C | 8.6°C | 14.8°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.0°C | 12.7°C | 18.9°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24.4°C | 12.1°C | 18.3°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.1°C | 8.2°C | 14.2°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.6°C | 2.9°C | 8.3°C | 118 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 7.6°C | −1.3°C | 3.2°C | 114 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 1.9°C | −7.2°C | −2.7°C | 121 mm | 34 cm |
| Year | 11.7°C | 0.6°C | 6.2°C | 1,179 mm | 187 cm |
From year to year, February moves by 2.3°C, more than any month, and August least
Over 1991–2020, January saw both −35.0°C (1993) and 16.5°C (2018), the widest span of any month.
Where Truro’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Debert: the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- 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 Truro’s climate
How warm does Truro get in summer?
On a normal day in July the thermometer climbs to 25.0°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Truro get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −12.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Truro get?
December is the wettest month at 121 mm and February the driest at 77 mm, for 1,179 mm over the year.
Are these figures for Truro itself?
They describe Debert, the nearest normals location, rather than Truro itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Truro →
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).