Climate of New Zealand

Winter snowfall in Dunedin

The climate of New Zealand is mostly cool temperate to warm temperate with a strong maritime influence.

Weather

The Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (MetService), established as a State-Owned Enterprise in 1992, issues weather forecasts and official weather warnings.

Rainfall

New Zealand climates range from semi-arid in Central Otago, with around 300 mm of rain a year, to decidedly wet (up to 8000 mm) in places west of the Southern Alps. Most New Zealand cities receive between 650 mm (as in Christchurch) and 1500 mm (Whangarei) of precipitation annually.

Snowfall

Midland Line blanketed in heavy snow

Snow is common in New Zealand's South Island and southern parts of the North Island, and extremely rare in the northern parts of the North Island, with one snowfall in Auckland in 2011 after a period of 40 years where none occurred.

Temperature

• Summer: In the mid 20s C° over most of the country. May rise on occasion to 30°C - 35°C in the east, often due to the Fohn winds.

• Winter: Generally between 10°C and 15°C in the North Island, 5°C - 10°C and sometimes lower in the South Island. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -25.6°C at Ranfurly in Otago in 1903.

Tropical cyclones

New Zealand is hit by a tropical cyclone once every eight to nine years. Cyclone Bola was one of the costliest cyclones in the history of New Zealand, causing severe damage as an extratropical cyclone when it passed near the country in March 1988.

Statistics

By area

Auckland
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     75   23 15     65   24 16     94   22 15     105   20 12     103   17 10     139   15 8     146   15 7     121   15 8     116   16 9     91   18 11     93   20 12     91   22 14 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3   74 60     2.6   75 60     3.7   72 58     4.1   68 54     4.1   63 50     5.5   59 46     5.7   58 45     4.8   59 46     4.6   61 48     3.6   64 51     3.7   67 54     3.6   71 57 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Hamilton
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     85   24 13     71   24 13     87   23 12     95   20 9     102   17 7     119   14 5     126   14 4     117   15 5     102   16 7     96   18 8     93   20 10     95   22 12 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.3   75 55     2.8   75 55     3.4   73 54     3.7   68 48     4   63 45     4.7   57 41     5   57 39     4.6   59 41     4   61 45     3.8   64 46     3.7   68 50     3.7   72 54 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Taupo
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     85   23 12     77   23 12     83   21 10     74   18 7     87   14 5     99   12 3     105   11 2     109   12 3     90   14 5     102   17 7     85   19 8     108   21 10 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.3   74 53     3   74 53     3.3   70 50     2.9   64 45     3.4   57 41     3.9   53 38     4.1   52 36     4.3   54 37     3.5   57 40     4   62 44     3.3   66 47     4.3   70 50 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Napier
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     48   24 15     62   24 15     85   23 13     75   20 10     62   17 7     81   15 5     92   14 5     67   15 5     65   17 7     55   19 9     57   21 11     56   23 13 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.9   76 58     2.4   75 58     3.3   73 55     3   68 50     2.4   63 45     3.2   58 41     3.6   57 40     2.6   59 41     2.6   62 45     2.2   67 49     2.2   70 52     2.2   73 56 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Wellington
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     72   20 13     62   21 14     92   19 13     100   17 11     117   14 9     147   12 7     136   11 6     123   12 7     100   14 8     115   15 9     99   17 10     86   19 12 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.8   69 56     2.4   69 56     3.6   66 55     3.9   62 52     4.6   58 48     5.8   54 44     5.4   53 43     4.8   54 44     3.9   56 46     4.5   59 48     3.9   62 51     3.4   65 54 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Nelson
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     72   22 13     57   22 13     78   21 11     86   18 8     77   15 5     85   13 2     86   12 2     90   13 3     73   15 5     92   17 8     82   19 10     75   21 12 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.8   72 55     2.2   72 55     3.1   69 53     3.4   65 47     3   59 41     3.3   55 36     3.4   54 35     3.5   56 38     2.9   59 42     3.6   62 46     3.2   66 50     3   69 53 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Hokitika
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     250   19 12     172   20 12     217   19 11     249   17 8     245   14 6     233   12 4     232   12 3     224   13 4     250   14 6     286   15 7     240   17 9     278   18 11 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     9.8   67 53     6.8   68 54     8.5   66 51     9.8   62 47     9.6   58 43     9.2   54 39     9.1   54 37     8.8   55 39     9.8   57 42     11   59 45     9.4   62 48     11   65 51 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Christchurch
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     42   23 12     39   22 12     54   20 11     54   18 8     56   15 5     66   12 2     79   11 2     69   12 3     47   15 5     53   17 7     44   19 9     49   21 11 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.7   73 54     1.5   72 54     2.1   69 51     2.1   64 46     2.2   58 40     2.6   53 36     3.1   52 35     2.7   54 37     1.9   59 41     2.1   63 45     1.7   67 48     1.9   70 52 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Alexandra
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     29   24 11     22   24 11     40   22 9     34   18 5     35   12 2     26   8 −2     23   8 −2     24   11 0     27   15 3     41   18 6     26   20 8     43   22 10 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.1   74 51     0.9   75 51     1.6   71 48     1.3   64 41     1.4   54 35     1   46 29     0.9   46 29     0.9   53 31     1.1   59 37     1.6   64 42     1   68 46     1.7   72 50 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Dunedin
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     73   19 11     59   19 11     70   18 10     62   15 8     67   13 6     68   10 4     61   10 3     55   11 4     48   13 6     64   15 7     67   16 9     76   18 10 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.9   66 52     2.3   66 52     2.8   64 50     2.4   60 46     2.6   55 42     2.7   51 38     2.4   50 37     2.2   52 39     1.9   56 42     2.5   59 45     2.6   61 47     3   64 51 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

See also

• Nor'west arch
• Weather Channel (New Zealand)
• Climate change in New Zealand

Further reading

• State of the Climate 2010: A snapshot of recent climate in New Zealand, NIWA Science & Technology Series No. 56, NIWA, 2010, ISSN 1173-0382 

External links

• MetService (Meteorological Service of New Zealand), a government agency that is the major provider of weather data
• MetVUW - a weather and climate service operated by Victoria University
  • MetVUW - forecasting
• NIWA - National Climate Centre
• NZ Weather - A New Zealand based weather forum
  • New Zealand Weather Network (NZWN) - a live weather map of weather stations around New Zealand
• List of private weather stations