Climate averages 1991–2020
Dunedin weather
in December.
A mild, wet month: the 4th warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a mild month in Dunedin: daytime highs average 16.0°C and nights cool to about 9.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 96 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes December a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 15 h 39 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Christchurch (310 km away). In December its highs average 19.6°C, 3.6°C warmer than Dunedin, with 53 mm of rain.
Among the 11 cities listed in New Zealand, Dunedin ranks 11th of 11 for the warmest December highs and 7th of 11 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 11 cities is 19.1°C; Dunedin is 3.1°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 1.4°C to 17.4°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 96 mm to 89 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Dunedin climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17.4°C10.9°C | 10.9°C | 89 | 12.9 | 15.315 h |
| February | 17.4°C10.9°C | 10.9°C | 74 | 10.5 | 14.014 h |
| March | 16.1°C9.6°C | 9.6°C | 59 | 9.5 | 12.412 h |
| April | 13.9°C7.6°C | 7.6°C | 54 | 9.3 | 10.811 h |
| May | 11.5°C5.5°C | 5.5°C | 50 | 9.7 | 9.49 h |
| June | 8.9°C3.2°C | 3.2°C | 46 | 9.2 | 8.79 h |
| July | 8.4°C2.3°C | 2.3°C | 39 | 8.0 | 9.09 h |
| August | 9.7°C3.1°C | 3.1°C | 41 | 9.4 | 10.210 h |
| September | 11.6°C4.4°C | 4.4°C | 50 | 10.6 | 11.712 h |
| October | 13.1°C6.1°C | 6.1°C | 74 | 13.5 | 13.413 h |
| November | 14.3°C7.6°C | 7.6°C | 77 | 13.6 | 14.815 h |
| December, selected | 16.0°C9.6°C | 9.6°C | 96 | 14.4 | 15.616 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Christchurch in DecemberNew Zealand · 310 kmHigh 19.6°C · Low 11.0°C · 53 mm rain
- Wellington in DecemberNew Zealand · 615 kmHigh 16.5°C · Low 13.4°C · 65 mm rain
- Lower Hutt in DecemberNew Zealand · 628 kmHigh 17.9°C · Low 13.3°C · 68 mm rain
- Palmerston North in DecemberNew Zealand · 740 kmHigh 19.1°C · Low 11.8°C · 98 mm rain
- Hamilton, New Zealand in DecemberNew Zealand · 982 kmHigh 20.5°C · Low 12.7°C · 99 mm rain
- Tauranga in DecemberNew Zealand · 1024 kmHigh 20.2°C · Low 14.1°C · 112 mm rain
- Manukau City in DecemberNew Zealand · 1052 kmHigh 20.3°C · Low 14.6°C · 87 mm rain
- Auckland in DecemberNew Zealand · 1064 kmHigh 20.2°C · Low 15.0°C · 92 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Dunedin) is explained once on the Dunedin year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.