Climate averages 1991–2020

Palmerston North weather
in January.

A mild, moderately wet month: the 2nd warmest and the 3rd driest of the year.

Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.

Average high 20.8°C Daytime mean, January

Average low 13.1°C Night-time mean, January

Rainfall 70 mm 11 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 15 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

January is a mild month in Palmerston North: daytime highs average 20.8°C and nights cool to about 13.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the 2nd warmest of the 12 months.

Expect about 70 mm of rain on roughly 11 days, which makes January a moderately wet month (the 3rd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 41 min on an average January day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Lower Hutt (112 km away). In January its highs average 19.5°C, 1.3°C cooler than Palmerston North, with 58 mm of rain.

Among the 11 cities listed in New Zealand, Palmerston North ranks 7th of 11 for the warmest January highs and joint 7th of 11 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 11 cities is 20.8°C; Palmerston North is level with that mean.

From January to February, average highs rise by 0.6°C to 21.4°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 70 mm to 64 mm.

The annual picture

January in context

30-year average

Average highAverage low°C

Monthly rainfall

Average total · mm

Averages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated

Every month, side by side

Palmerston North climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Palmerston North, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Rainfall mm/month	Rain days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January, selected	20.8°C13.1°C	13.1°C	70	10.5	14.715 h
February	21.4°C13.4°C	13.4°C	64	8.3	13.714 h
March	19.6°C11.9°C	11.9°C	62	9.4	12.412 h
April	16.9°C9.7°C	9.7°C	82	10.7	11.011 h
May	14.4°C7.9°C	7.9°C	79	11.9	9.910 h
June	12.1°C5.9°C	5.9°C	90	13.2	9.39 h
July	11.4°C5.1°C	5.1°C	89	13.2	9.610 h
August	12.1°C5.2°C	5.2°C	89	13.8	10.511 h
September	13.5°C6.5°C	6.5°C	94	14.2	11.812 h
October	15.1°C8.1°C	8.1°C	109	14.9	13.113 h
November	16.7°C9.4°C	9.4°C	87	13.6	14.314 h
December	19.1°C11.8°C	11.8°C	98	13.5	15.015 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

January in nearby cities

Distance from Palmerston North

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 limits

How these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Palmerston North) is explained once on the Palmerston North year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.