What's the weather like in Nova Scotia?

Nova Scotia's weather features four distinct seasons throughout the year: warm to hot summers and cold, snowy winters. The shoulder seasons of autumn and spring also experience typical weather patterns such as mild to warm temperatures and frequent rainfall.

It can be a common misconception that everywhere in Canada is cold and snowy and while that can be definitely true in winter, it's not the case for the whole year. Surprisingly, Nova Scotia is actually the warmest province in Canada with summers reaching average temperatures of 24°C (75°F) per day and enjoying little to no humidity.

Summer isn't all sunshine and no rain though as thunderstorms are known to occur if the humidity levels get high enough. Tornado season also starts towards the end of summer and brings turbulent wind patterns and hot temperatures. While tornadoes are unlikely to form in Nova Scotia, it isn't impossible with the last tornado wreaking havoc across the province in 2003.

While the weather is usually quite consistent throughout Nova Scotia, it can differ depending on your exact location as some regions experience slightly different weather than others.

Weather in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia's capital enjoys similar weather to that of the province's northern and southern regions, boasting warm summers with an average rainfall of only 105mm throughout the season and conceding freezing winters with low temperatures of -8°C (17°F). Humidity levels can also be quite high during the height of summer sitting at around 70-80%. Halifax is also known to experience snow from time to time with snowfall expected on an average of 85 days per year.

Weather in Sydney, Nova Scotia

Winters can get extremely cold in the northern region of Nova Scotia due to ice build-up in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Temperatures in January and February (the height of winter) can reach a low of -10°C (14°F) and a high of only -1°C (30°F) or -2°C (28°F). The summer season sees an increase in warmer weather with temperatures reaching a high of 23°C (73°F). The frequency of rainfall and the amount of rainfall received starts to pick up from autumn onwards with the most rainfall recorded in December with an average of 167mm.

Weather in Liverpool, Nova Scotia

The weather in Liverpool, and other southern areas of the province such as Yarmouth and Clarks Harbour, is moderated by oceanic currents (Gulf Stream) and closely resembles the same weather patterns as the central and northern parts of the province. However, this region is known to see more fog during winter but less rainfall and slightly warmer weather than the other regions.

Average temperatures in Nova Scotia

MONTH	AVERAGE HIGH	AVERAGE LOW
March to May	9°C/48°F	1°C/33°F
June to August	23°C/73°F	13°C/55°F
September to November	15°C/59°F	6°C/42°F
December to February	1°C/33°F	-7°C/19°F