Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone and, although the province is almost surrounded by water, the climate is closer to continental rather than maritime. The temperature extremes of the continental climate are moderated by the ocean.

Described on the provincial vehicle-licence plate as Canada's Ocean Playground, the sea is a major influence on Nova Scotia's climate. Nova Scotia's cold winters and warm summers are modified and generally moderated by ocean influences. The province is surrounded by three major bodies of water, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the north, the Bay of Fundy to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east.

While the constant temperature of the Atlantic Ocean moderates the climate of the south and east coasts of Nova Scotia, heavy ice build-up in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence makes winters colder in northern Nova Scotia; the shallowness of the Gulf's waters mean that they warm up more than the Atlantic Ocean in the summer, warming the summers in northern Nova Scotia. Summer officially lasts from the first Sunday in April to the Saturday before the last Sunday in October. Although Nova Scotia has a somewhat moderated climate, there have been some very intense heatwaves and cold snaps recorded over the past 160 years. The highest temperature ever recorded in the province was 38.3 °C (101 °F) on August 19, 1935 at Collegeville, which is located about 15 km southwest of Antigonish. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −41.1 °C (−42 °F) on January 31, 1920 at Upper Stewiacke.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the city of Halifax was 37.2 °C (99 °F) on July 10, 1912, and the lowest was −29.4 °C (−21 °F) on Feb 18th, 1922. For the city of Sydney, the highest temperature ever recorded was 36.7 °C (98 °F) on August 18, 1935, and the lowest was −31.7 °C (−25 °F) on January 31, 1873, and January 29, 1877 

 

 

A satellite photo of Nova Scotia

Rainfall changes from 140 centimetres (55 in) in the south to 100 centimetres (40 in) elsewhere. Nova Scotia is also very foggy in places, with Halifax averaging 196 foggy days per year and Yarmouth 191.

The average annual temperatures are:

Spring from 1 °C (34 °F) to 17 °C (63 °F)

Summer from 14 °C (57 °F) to 28 °C (82 °F)

Fall about 5 °C (41 °F) to 20 °C (68 °F)

Winter about −20 °C (−4 °F) to 5 °C (41 °F)

Due to the ocean's moderating effect Nova Scotia is the warmest of the provinces in Canada. It has frequent coastal fog and marked changeability of weather from day to day. The main factors influencing Nova Scotia's climate are:

The effects of the westerly winds

The interaction between three main air masses which converge on the east coast

Nova Scotia's location on the routes of the major eastward-moving storms

The modifying influence of the sea.

Because Nova Scotia juts out into the Atlantic, it is prone to tropical storms and hurricanes in the summer and autumn. However due to the relatively cooler waters off the coast of Nova Scotia, tropical storms are usually weak by the time they reach Nova Scotia. There have been 33 such storms, including 12 hurricanes, since records were kept in 1871 – about once every four years. The last hurricane was category-one Hurricane Earl in September 2010, and the last tropical storm was Tropical Storm Noel in 2007 (downgraded from Hurricane Noel by the time the storm reached Nova Scotia).