Weather in Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island owes everything to the sea, especially its climate. Robust winters, reluctant springs, fresh summers, and lingering falls; reliable precipitation and lavish snowfalls; misty sunlight, thick fog, and expansive sea ice -- all of these, and many more, are a part of Cape Breton's maritime climate.

By the Sea

Atlantic and Fundy waters are relatively cold (8-12C), and they help to keep the air temperature over southwestern Cape Breton on the cool side in spring and summer.

Warmest in the East

The southwest coast around Cape Sable is frost free for over half the year, longer than any other place in Atlantic Canada and comparable to localities along the shores of Lake Erie.


Afternoon summer temperatures reach 25C in the interior, but along the coast are frequently 4 to 6C cooler. At night the ocean remains a cooling source, keeping minimum temperatures along the coast about 2 to 3C below those inland.

Mainly Moist

Nova Scotia is wettest over the highlands of Cape Breton Island, where over 1600 mm of precipitation fall in an average year. The southern coast experiences almost as much, with totals of 1500 mm. By contrast, the north shore along the Northumberland Strait has less than 1000 mm a year.

Misty Sunshine

An average of 122 days with fog at the International Airport and 101 days at Shearwater, on the Dartmouth side of the harbor, although on most days fog persists for less than 12 hours are the specialty of this island.


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