Contrary to some accounts, winter on Sable Island is not all harsh wind and bitter cold. The island's climate is temperate oceanic and is generally milder than that of mainland Nova Scotia. Winter temperatures, normally between +5 and -5 degrees Celsius, rarely drop below -13 degrees C, and snowfall is usually far less than that on the mainland. It is the surrounding ocean which gives the island its mild climate. During the summer surface waters of the ocean are heated by the sun, and during winter the ocean warms the cooler air passing over it, thus Sable Island is surrounded by a huge heating system (a hot-water radiator).

From the point of view of two- and four-legged mammals on the island, the most severe element in any season is probably the wind which can, at times, drive sand, rain and snow in scouring sheets and stinging sideways bursts. Prevailing winter winds are northwesterly and average 40 km/hr, and often gusting to 100 km/hr. During such weather, horses huddle in the lee provided by the dunes, or turn their tails to the wind and graze, and people working out on the dunes or beaches bundle up in windbreakers or rain gear, and don ski-goggles to protect eyes from blowing sand. Seals on the beach, well-insulated in thick blubber, often simply close their eyes and snooze. But the weather on Sable Island is very changeable, and during any winter day, there can be windblown sleet and snow one moment, and sunshine and light breezes the next. While spring, summer and autumn are the more "comfortable" and colourful months on Sable Island, winter is particularly interesting. The season brings changes in the habitat and behaviour of the horses, and it is the time of the great gathering of Grey Seals in their breeding colonies on the island. Also, the many species of breeding and migrating birds found on Sable Island during spring through autumn, are replaced by a few species of overwintering birds such as gulls and ducks, and a small proportion of the island's Ipswich Sparrow population which stays for the winter instead of migrating to the mainland.

Although the weather is milder than that of mainland Nova Scotia, winter on Sable Island does bring some unique difficulties for working outdoors. Winter storms cause high seas and surf and flooding on the beaches. The beaches themselves are normally narrower in winter when high energy wind-driven waves churn sand away from the shoreline, and even during periods when the beaches are not flooded by storm waves, such sections of the narrow winter beach are often impassable at high tide. Anyone working on the island must pay attention to the tide schedule in arranging the day's activities.

Winter on Sable Island is visually spectacular, occasionally challenging, and sometimes a little eerie with unusual sounds and smells, and with the very changeable weather rolling over the region. It is a most interesting time which provides an opportunity for work and life in a unique habitat during a somewhat demanding season.

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