Climate averages 1991–2020
Wellington weather
by month.
See how the year changes. February has the highest average daily maximum; January has the lowest average monthly rainfall.
Pleasant-weather months by our simple rule: February
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
Across the year Wellington averages a daytime high of 14.5°C and a nighttime low of 11.5°C, with about 872 mm of rain on roughly 119 days. February is the warmest month (average high 18.3°C) and July the coolest (11.2°C). June is the wettest month with 95 mm; January is the driest with 55 mm.
Months with pleasant weather by a simple rule (average high between 18°C and 29°C, average low of at least 5°C and at most 8 rain days): February. This looks at temperature and rain only, not humidity, wind, sea temperature or crowds.
The annual picture
A year in Wellington
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
Wellington climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17.8°C14.6°C | 14.6°C | 55 | 7.6 | 14.815 h |
| February | 18.3°C15.0°C | 15.0°C | 56 | 6.1 | 13.714 h |
| March | 17.2°C14.0°C | 14.0°C | 59 | 7.6 | 12.412 h |
| April | 15.4°C12.4°C | 12.4°C | 73 | 9.1 | 11.011 h |
| May | 13.8°C11.1°C | 11.1°C | 76 | 10.3 | 9.910 h |
| June | 12.0°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 95 | 12.1 | 9.29 h |
| July | 11.2°C8.6°C | 8.6°C | 87 | 12.2 | 9.510 h |
| August | 11.3°C8.6°C | 8.6°C | 82 | 12.7 | 10.510 h |
| September | 12.3°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 74 | 10.7 | 11.812 h |
| October | 13.5°C10.4°C | 10.4°C | 83 | 11.4 | 13.213 h |
| November | 14.7°C11.5°C | 11.5°C | 69 | 9.1 | 14.414 h |
| December | 16.5°C13.4°C | 13.4°C | 65 | 9.7 | 15.115 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
Nearby cities
- Lower HuttNew Zealand · 14 kmHigh 15.4°C · Low 11.0°C · 870 mm rain a year
- Palmerston NorthNew Zealand · 125 kmHigh 16.1°C · Low 9.0°C · 1,013 mm rain a year
- Hastings, New ZealandNew Zealand · 254 kmHigh 17.6°C · Low 9.8°C · 760 mm rain a year
- New PlymouthNew Zealand · 254 kmHigh 16.0°C · Low 10.8°C · 1,846 mm rain a year
- ChristchurchNew Zealand · 305 kmHigh 15.7°C · Low 7.4°C · 585 mm rain a year
- Hamilton, New ZealandNew Zealand · 392 kmHigh 17.6°C · Low 9.6°C · 1,177 mm rain a year
- TaurangaNew Zealand · 418 kmHigh 17.4°C · Low 11.5°C · 1,298 mm rain a year
- Manukau CityNew Zealand · 478 kmHigh 17.7°C · Low 12.3°C · 996 mm rain a year
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 limitsWhat do the high and low temperatures mean?
We average the daily maximum and daily minimum for each calendar month over 1991–2020. They are not record extremes, a forecast range or temperatures at a fixed time of day.
How is a rain day counted?
A local calendar day (standard time, UTC+12, no daylight saving) with at least 1 mm of total precipitation counts as one rain day. We count these for each year and month, then average across 30 years. The average does not predict which days will be wet.
Where do the numbers come from?
ERA5-Land (temperature) and ERA5 (precipitation) reanalysis from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, read from the Open-Meteo open-data archive. Temperature comes from the 0.1° model cell at -41.30°, 174.70° (7 km from the city centre), adjusted up by 0.2°C for the difference between the city's elevation (31 m) and the cell's (55 m). Rain comes from the 0.25° cell at -41.25°, 174.75°. These are model estimates, not weather-station readings; coast, hills and city streets can differ.
Does this page show sunshine, humidity or sea temperature?
No. The data used here contain air temperature and precipitation only. Daylight hours are calculated from the city's latitude (sunrise to sunset), not measured sunshine.