Climate averages 1991–2020
Wellington weather
in January.
A mild, moderately wet month: the 2nd warmest and the driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a mild month in Wellington: daytime highs average 17.8°C and nights cool to about 14.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 2nd warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 55 mm of rain on roughly 8 days, which makes January a moderately wet month (the driest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 46 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Lower Hutt (14 km away). In January its highs average 19.5°C, 1.7°C warmer than Wellington, with 58 mm of rain.
Among the 11 cities listed in New Zealand, Wellington ranks 10th of 11 for the warmest January highs and 2nd of 11 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 11 cities is 20.8°C; Wellington is 3.0°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 0.4°C to 18.3°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 55 mm to 56 mm.
The annual picture
January 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
Wellington climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | 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
January in nearby cities
- Lower Hutt in JanuaryNew Zealand · 14 kmHigh 19.5°C · Low 14.6°C · 58 mm rain
- Palmerston North in JanuaryNew Zealand · 125 kmHigh 20.8°C · Low 13.1°C · 70 mm rain
- Hastings, New Zealand in JanuaryNew Zealand · 254 kmHigh 23.2°C · Low 14.6°C · 61 mm rain
- New Plymouth in JanuaryNew Zealand · 254 kmHigh 20.0°C · Low 14.2°C · 106 mm rain
- Christchurch in JanuaryNew Zealand · 305 kmHigh 21.2°C · Low 12.4°C · 50 mm rain
- Hamilton, New Zealand in JanuaryNew Zealand · 392 kmHigh 22.5°C · Low 14.0°C · 70 mm rain
- Tauranga in JanuaryNew Zealand · 418 kmHigh 22.0°C · Low 15.5°C · 86 mm rain
- Manukau City in JanuaryNew Zealand · 478 kmHigh 22.2°C · Low 16.0°C · 65 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 Wellington) is explained once on the Wellington year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.