More rain and snow fall on Kensington than on 92% of Canadian towns: 1,252 mm a year
Deep winter brings January lows near −11.3°C. Expect the most rain and snow in December and the least in July. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 70% of Canadian towns. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 153 days a year at 0°C or below.
No ECCC station in Kensington has 1991–2020 normals; the page reads Summerside, 16 km west, instead.
A year in Kensington at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Kensington’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ on Prince Edward Island beside it.
What a year in Kensington feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 153 days, 20°C on 87
From October to May frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. Some 6 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
About 1,252 mm of rain and snow a year
3rd wettest of 13 towns of 2,500+ on Prince Edward Island. About 156 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
ECCC’s Summerside normals leave out precipitation and snow; both come from New Glasgow here, 22 km away.
292 cm of snow in a typical year
From November to May snow is likely; January is the peak, at about 67 cm. 2nd snowiest of 13 towns of 2,500+ on Prince Edward Island.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Kensington
89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
The total grows by a degree for every degree a day’s mean sits under 18°C.
Living with Kensington’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Warm afternoons without cold nights, 17–27°C and 8°C or more, mark Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Winter brings about 29 days with a wind chill below −20.
Expect around 28 sticky days a year with the humidex above 30.
A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Kensington’s hazards page looks at those.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Summerside
ECCC builds the Summerside normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 16 km west |
| Station altitude | 12 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | New Glasgow, 22 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −28.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 33.7°C |
| Average wind | 18.8 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | New Glasgow, 22 km |
How Kensington compares
Placed among 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, each on its nearest normals location; each dot is another location used on Prince Edward Island.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Kensington’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest places to Kensington with figures are 8–26 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington Summerside | 24.1°C | −11.3°C | 1,252 mm |
| New London 7.8 km · New Glasgow | 23.9°C about the same | −11.1°C about the same | 1,252 mm |
| Crapaud, Part 1 24 km · Elmwood | 23.7°C about the same | −11.0°C about the same | 1,290 mm |
Kensington weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2.9°C | −11.3°C | −7.1°C | 111 mm | 67 cm |
| February | −2.6°C | −11.3°C | −7.0°C | 91 mm | 65 cm |
| March | 1.2°C | −6.6°C | −2.7°C | 94 mm | 50 cm |
| April | 7.3°C | −0.8°C | 3.3°C | 86 mm | 24 cm |
| May | 14.3°C | 4.9°C | 9.6°C | 90 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 19.7°C | 10.4°C | 15.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 24.1°C | 15.0°C | 19.6°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.8°C | 14.5°C | 19.2°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 19.4°C | 10.4°C | 14.9°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.0°C | 5.2°C | 9.1°C | 135 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6.7°C | −0.1°C | 3.3°C | 130 mm | 19 cm |
| December | 0.9°C | −6.0°C | −2.5°C | 138 mm | 66 cm |
| Year | 10.4°C | 2.0°C | 6.2°C | 1,252 mm | 292 cm |
February strays furthest from its normal year to year, by 2.1°C; July the least
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −23.0°C in 2008 and a high of 25.2°C in 2012.
Where Kensington’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals at Summerside, the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals.
- 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: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- Not on this page: sunshine, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Kensington’s climate
How warm does Kensington get in summer?
In July, the warmest month, the typical high is 24.1°C.
How cold does Kensington get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, averaging −11.3°C.
How much rain and snow does Kensington get?
The yearly total is about 1,252 mm. December gets 138 mm, the most of any month; July gets 75 mm, the least.
Are these figures for Kensington itself?
They are borrowed from Summerside, the nearest place to Kensington where ECCC publishes 1991–2020 normals.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Kensington →
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).