New Zealand Weather, Seasons and Climate

New Zealand Seasons

Spring: September – November
Summer: December – February
Autumn: March – May
Winter: June – August

The best seasons to travel to New Zealand (nicest weather) are in either Spring or Autumn.

New Zealand Weather & Climate

The climate and weather in New Zealand is mild year round compared to many parts of the world. The majority of the country is on the coastline and has lots of sunshine. New Zealand does have a wet season so you’ll want to keep that in mind when traveling. Temperatures range between 30-60F in winter depending on where you are and can be as high as 70-90 F in summer. Even if you’re traveling during New Zealand’s winter months, a medium-weight coat should do the trick throughout the country.

New Zealand Climate Averages by City

Auckland Weather

Table 1. Climate Averages for Auckland (North Island), New Zealand

Auckland	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	23	24	23	20	17	15	14	15	16	18	20	22
Max °F	73	75	73	68	63	59	57	59	61	64	68	72
Min °C	16	16	15	13	10	8	7	8	9	11	13	14
Min °F	61	61	59	55	50	46	45	46	48	52	55	57
Rainfall (mm)	71	68	61	78	123	108	135	97	64	105	71	84
Sunny Days	21	19	19	16	15	11	12	13	12	16	17	20
Sunshine Hours	7	7	6	5	5	4	4	5	5	6	6	7

Tauranga Weather

Table 2. Climate Averages for Tauranga (North Island), New Zealand

Tauranga	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	23	24	22	20	17	15	14	14	16	18	19	22
Max °F	73	75	72	68	63	59	57	57	61	64	68	72
Min °C	16	16	15	12	11	8	7	7	9	11	12	14
Min °F	61	61	59	54	52	46	45	45	48	52	54	57
Rainfall (mm)	68	98	87	157	153	96	127	95	64	87	66	96
Sunny Days	21	19	20	18	18	17	17	17	17	18	17	19
Sunshine Hours	8	8	7	6	5	5	5	6	6	7	7	8

Napier Weather

Table 3. Climate Averages for Napier (North Island), New Zealand

Napier	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	22	22	19	17	14	12	12	12	14	15	18	19
Max °F	72	72	66	63	57	54	54	54	57	59	64	62
Min °C	14	14	12	9	8	6	6	6	7	9	10	12
Min °F	57	57	54	48	46	43	43	43	45	48	50	54
Rainfall (mm)	62	44	61	76	77	78	122	54	56	64	53	69
Sunny Days	22	19	20	19	17	15	14	15	13	16	18	19
Sunshine Hours	8	7	6	5	4	3	4	4	5	6	7	7

Rotorua Weather

Table 4. Climate Averages for Rotorua (North Island), New Zealand

Rotorua	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	23	24	23	20	17	15	14	15	16	18	20	22
Max °F	73	75	73	68	63	59	57	59	61	64	68	72
Min °C	16	16	15	13	10	8	7	8	9	11	13	14
Min °F	61	61	59	55	50	46	45	46	48	52	55	57
Rainfall (mm)	82	86	92	123	158	114	123	114	92	98	96	135
Sunny Days	21	19	19	16	15	11	12	13	12	16	17	20
Sunshine Hours	7	7	6	5	5	4	4	5	5	6	6	7

Wellington Weather

Table 5. Climate Averages for Wellington (North Island), New Zealand

Wellington	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	20	20	19	17	14	12	11	12	13	15	17	19
Max °F	68	68	66	63	57	54	52	54	55	59	63	66
Min °C	13	13	12	10	8	6	6	6	7	9	10	12
Min °F	55	55	54	50	46	43	43	43	45	48	50	54
Rainfall (mm)	71	49	114	80	125	108	184	133	83	108	93	102
Sunny Days	22	19	19	19	17	13	14	13	12	16	18	19
Sunshine Hours	8	7	6	5	4	3	4	4	5	6	7	7

Christchurch Weather

Table 6. Climate Averages for Christchurch (South Island), New Zealand

Christchurch	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	22	22	20	17	14	11	11	12	14	17	19	21
Max °F	72	72	68	63	57	52	52	54	57	63	66	70
Min °C	12	12	11	8	5	2	2	3	5	7	9	11
Min °F	54	54	52	46	41	36	36	37	41	45	48	52
Rainfall (mm)	39	44	36	47	52	49	60	60	41	54	43	47
Sunny Days	23	19	21	20	19	17	17	18	20	21	19	21
Sunshine Hours	7	7	5	5	4	4	4	5	5	7	7	7

Dunedin Weather

Table 7. Climate Averages for Dunedin (South Island), New Zealand

Dunedin	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	20	20	19	16	13	10	10	12	14	17	18	20
Max °F	68	68	66	61	55	50	50	54	57	63	64	68
Min °C	12	12	11	8	5	2	1	3	4	7	9	11
Min °F	54	54	52	46	41	36	34	37	39	45	48	52
Rainfall (mm)	72	66	110	150	87	27	45	59	48	56	27	150
Sunny Days	22	19	21	19	19	17	16	18	19	21	18	21
Sunshine Hours	7	7	5	5	4	4	4	5	5	7	7	7

Invercargill Weather

Table 8. Climate Averages for Invercargill (South Island), New Zealand

Invercargill	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	18	19	17	15	12	10	10	11	13	15	16	17
Max °F	64	66	63	59	54	50	50	52	55	59	61	63
Min °C	9	9	7	6	2	2	1	1	3	5	6	8
Min °F	48	48	45	43	36	36	34	34	37	41	43	46
Rainfall (mm)	91	76	91	80	110	116	73	75	69	96	110	93
Sunny Days	14	12	14	12	13	10	14	16	15	14	12	13
Sunshine Hours	6	6	5	4	3	2	3	4	4	5	5	6

Nelson Weather

Table 9. Climate Averages for Nelson (South Island), New Zealand

Nelson	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	22	22	21	18	15	12	12	13	14	17	18	20
Max °F	72	72	70	64	59	54	54	55	57	63	64	68
Min °C	12	12	11	8	5	2	1	3	5	7	9	11
Min °F	54	54	52	46	41	36	34	37	41	45	48	52
Rainfall (mm)	66	46	45	70	76	90	57	72	61	82	68	79
Sunny Days	22	20	21	20	20	20	19	18	17	18	18	19
Sunshine Hours	8	8	6	6	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	8

Queenstown Weather

Table 10. Climate Averages for Queenstown (South Island), New Zealand

Queenstown	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max °C	20	20	17	13	9	6	6	8	11	13	16	18
Max °F	68	68	63	55	48	43	43	46	52	55	61	64
Min °C	8	8	6	4	1	-2	-2	-1	1	3	5	7
Min °F	46	46	43	39	34	28	28	30	34	37	41	45
Rainfall (mm)	65	45	48	37	53	77	41	48	61	65	64	64
Sunny Days	18	27	19	17	17	19	19	20	17	17	17	17
Sunshine Hours	7	7	5	4	3	2	2	4	5	6	7	7

Sources

MetService – New Zealand’s Weather Authority

NIWA – the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

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