Christchurch weather in February

In February, Christchurch sees average daytime highs of 19°C and overnight lows near 14°C, with 39 mm of rain across 6.6 wet days and about 13.8 hours of daylight. It is the 1st-warmest and 12th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 19°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 34% of the time in February, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 14 h 24 min at the start of February to 13 h 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, February is Christchurch's 3rd-clearest and 4th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Christchurch's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 19°; 1st warmest
Overnight low: 14°; 12th coldest
Rainfall: 39 mm; 6.6 wet days
Daylight: 13 h 48 min; 6:51 AM – 8:38 PM
Cloud cover: 56%; 3rd clearest
Wind: 16 km/h; 4th windiest
Solar energy: 5.76 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.5; out of 10

Christchurch is largest city in the South Island of New Zealand.

Air quality: Moderate; PM2.5 10.2 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 1,420/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1848

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← January Christchurch year-round climate March →Best places to visit in February

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in February

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 19°C through the month.

A typical February day in Christchurch reaches about 19°C in the afternoon and slips back to 14°C overnight — a 5°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 15°C and 23°C. Set against its neighbours, February runs on par with January and about 1°C warmer than March.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Avg high (°C)	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18
Avg low (°C)	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	14
2	19	14
3	19	14
4	19	14
5	19	14
6	19	14
7	19	14
8	19	14
9	19	14
10	19	14
11	19	14
12	19	14
13	19	14
14	19	14
15	19	14
16	19	14
17	19	14
18	19	14
19	19	14
20	19	14
21	19	14
22	19	14
23	19	14
24	19	14
25	19	14
26	18	13
27	18	13
28	18	13

Christchurch weather by month

How February compares with the rest of the year at a glance. February is the 1st-warmest and 12th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	19° / 14°	49	8.1	14.9	6.3
Feb	19° / 14°	39	6.6	13.8	6.5
Mar	17° / 13°	45	6.8	12.4	6.1
Apr	15° / 10°	52	8.8	10.8	4.8
May	13° / 8°	48	8.2	9.5	3.8
Jun	11° / 6°	58	8.9	8.8	2.6
Jul	10° / 5°	52	8.4	9.1	2.2
Aug	10° / 6°	48	8.8	10.2	2.5
Sep	12° / 7°	43	8.1	11.7	3.3
Oct	14° / 9°	48	9.4	13.2	4.1
Nov	16° / 10°	49	9	14.5	4.9
Dec	17° / 12°	53	9.4	15.2	5.6

Cloud cover in February

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 34% of the time in February.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 17% of February, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 49%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Clearer (%)	48	49	49	49	49	49	48	49	49	49	50	51	51	51	52	52	52	52	52	52	53	54	53	54	54	54	54	53
Cloudier (%)	52	51	51	51	51	51	52	51	51	51	50	49	49	49	48	48	48	48	48	48	47	46	47	46	46	46	46	47

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	48	52
8	49	51
9	49	51
10	49	51
11	50	50
12	51	49
13	51	49
14	51	49
15	52	48
16	52	48
17	52	48
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	52	48
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	53	47
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	54	46
27	54	46
28	53	47

Chance of precipitation in February

Any precipitation

Christchurch gets around 39 mm of rain over 6.6 wet days in February, the driest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 23% and peaks near 24% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Rain chance (%)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24

	Rain chance (%)
1	22
2	22
3	22
4	22
5	22
6	22
7	22
8	22
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	23
17	24
18	24
19	24
20	24
21	24
22	24
23	24
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24

Humidity in February

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of February feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, February lands in the dry band about 63% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Dry (%)	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	62	63	62	62	61	60	60	60	60	60	60	61	61	62	62	63	64	65	67	69	70
Comfortable (%)	29	29	29	29	29	30	30	31	31	32	33	34	35	36	36	37	37	37	37	37	36	36	35	34	33	32	30	29
Humid (%)	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	63	29	8
2	63	29	8
3	63	29	8
4	63	29	8
5	63	29	8
6	63	30	7
7	63	30	7
8	62	31	7
9	63	31	6
10	62	32	6
11	62	33	5
12	61	34	5
13	60	35	5
14	60	36	4
15	60	36	4
16	60	37	3
17	60	37	3
18	60	37	3
19	61	37	2
20	61	37	2
21	62	36	2
22	62	36	2
23	63	35	2
24	64	34	2
25	65	33	2
26	67	32	1
27	69	30	1
28	70	29	1

Wind in February

Winds average 16 km/h in February.

Across February, daily wind ranges from about 16 km/h on the calmest days to 16 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Wind speed (km/h)	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	16	light breeze
2	16	light breeze
3	16	light breeze
4	16	light breeze
5	16	light breeze
6	16	light breeze
7	16	light breeze
8	16	light breeze
9	16	light breeze
10	16	light breeze
11	16	light breeze
12	16	light breeze
13	16	light breeze
14	16	light breeze
15	16	light breeze
16	16	light breeze
17	16	light breeze
18	16	light breeze
19	16	light breeze
20	16	light breeze
21	16	light breeze
22	16	light breeze
23	16	light breeze
24	16	light breeze
25	16	light breeze
26	16	light breeze
27	16	light breeze
28	16	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in February

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 14 h 24 min at the start of February to 13 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 72 minutes over February. Sunrise moves from 6:32 AM to 7:08 AM, and sunset from 8:54 PM to 8:18 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Daylight (h)	14.4	14.3	14.3	14.3	14.2	14.2	14.1	14.1	14.0	14.0	14.0	13.9	13.9	13.8	13.8	13.7	13.7	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.5	13.5	13.4	13.4	13.3	13.3	13.2	13.2
Sunrise (AM)	6:32	6:33	6:34	6:36	6:37	6:38	6:40	6:41	6:42	6:44	6:45	6:46	6:48	6:49	6:51	6:52	6:53	6:55	6:56	6:57	6:59	7:00	7:01	7:02	7:04	7:05	7:06	7:08
Sunset (PM)	8:54	8:53	8:52	8:51	8:50	8:49	8:48	8:47	8:45	8:44	8:43	8:42	8:40	8:39	8:38	8:36	8:35	8:33	8:32	8:30	8:29	8:27	8:26	8:24	8:23	8:21	8:20	8:18

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	14.4	6:32	8:54
2	14.3	6:33	8:53
3	14.3	6:34	8:52
4	14.3	6:36	8:51
5	14.2	6:37	8:50
6	14.2	6:38	8:49
7	14.1	6:40	8:48
8	14.1	6:41	8:47
9	14.0	6:42	8:45
10	14.0	6:44	8:44
11	14.0	6:45	8:43
12	13.9	6:46	8:42
13	13.9	6:48	8:40
14	13.8	6:49	8:39
15	13.8	6:51	8:38
16	13.7	6:52	8:36
17	13.7	6:53	8:35
18	13.6	6:55	8:33
19	13.6	6:56	8:32
20	13.6	6:57	8:30
21	13.5	6:59	8:29
22	13.5	7:00	8:27
23	13.4	7:01	8:26
24	13.4	7:02	8:24
25	13.3	7:04	8:23
26	13.3	7:05	8:21
27	13.2	7:06	8:20
28	13.2	7:08	8:18

Solar energy in February

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in February, about 5.76 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.44 kWh/m² to a high of 6.97 kWh/m² in January across the year — February's 5.76 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.4	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.2
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	6.3	Intense
2	6.3	Intense
3	6.3	Intense
4	6.2	Intense
5	6.2	Intense
6	6.1	Intense
7	6.1	Intense
8	6.0	Intense
9	6.0	Intense
10	6.0	Bright
11	5.9	Bright
12	5.9	Bright
13	5.8	Bright
14	5.8	Bright
15	5.7	Bright
16	5.7	Bright
17	5.7	Bright
18	5.6	Bright
19	5.6	Bright
20	5.5	Bright
21	5.5	Bright
22	5.5	Bright
23	5.4	Bright
24	5.4	Bright
25	5.3	Bright
26	5.3	Bright
27	5.3	Bright
28	5.2	Bright

Planning a trip in February

Is February a good time to visit Christchurch?

Our two travel scores rate February for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

6.5

Sightseeing

1st-best month of the year

2.7

Beach & pool

1st-best month of the year

February is a reasonable time to visit Christchurch for sightseeing.

What to pack for Christchurch in February

From February's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In February, Christchurch sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 14°C. Worth packing: sun protection. About 7 days see rain.

sun protection

Sea temperature near Christchurch in February

The nearest coast averages about 17°C in February — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 22 km away) is warmest in February at about 17°C and coldest in August near 9°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	17	17	16	14	13	11	10	9	10	12	14	15
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	17	Cool
Feb	17	Cool
Mar	16	Cool
Apr	14	Bracing
May	13	Bracing
Jun	11	Bracing
Jul	10	Bracing
Aug	9	Bracing
Sep	10	Bracing
Oct	12	Bracing
Nov	14	Bracing
Dec	15	Cool

UV index in Christchurch in February

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in February peaks around 10 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Christchurch peaks around January 15 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	11	10	6	3	2	1	2	2	4	6	8	10
Level	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	10	Very high
Mar	6	High
Apr	3	Moderate
May	2	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	2	Low
Aug	2	Moderate
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	8	Very high
Dec	10	Very high

Air quality in Christchurch in February

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where February falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Christchurch is worst in February — around 17 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.5× the cleanest month (May, 7 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Christchurch's WHO annual average of 10.2 µg/m³.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	10	17	14	8	7	7	9	10	11	10	10	10
Level	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	10	Good
Feb	17	Moderate
Mar	14	Moderate
Apr	8	Good
May	7	Good
Jun	7	Good
Jul	9	Good
Aug	10	Good
Sep	11	Good
Oct	10	Good
Nov	10	Good
Dec	10	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Christchurch?

Christchurch sits at 43.5°S, 172.6°E, 14 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Rolleston, 21 km away.

Topography around Christchurch

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Christchurch.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Christchurch has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 26 m around an average of 10 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 547 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,955 m.

The land around Christchurch is covered by artificial surfaces (74%) within 3 km, grassland (33%) and water (22%) within 16 km, and water (43%) and grassland (34%) within 80 km.

3 km

26 m

artificial surfaces 74%

16 km

547 m

grassland 33%

80 km

1,955 m

water 43%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← January Christchurch year-round climate March →Best places to visit in February

February weather nearby: Rolleston 21 km · Rangiora 26 km · Ashburton 83 km · Timaru 146 km · Kaikoura 151 km · Tekapo 181 km · Franz Josef 198 km · Richmond 249 km

New Zealand travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type I; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 86% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $49,591; 2025
Happiness: 7.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 100%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.5; per 100k, 2022
Road deaths: 9.6; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Christchurch (-43.5333°, 172.6333°, elevation 14 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	14
2	19	14
3	19	14
4	19	14
5	19	14
6	19	14
7	19	14
8	19	14
9	19	14
10	19	14
11	19	14
12	19	14
13	19	14
14	19	14
15	19	14
16	19	14
17	19	14
18	19	14
19	19	14
20	19	14
21	19	14
22	19	14
23	19	14
24	19	14
25	19	14
26	18	13
27	18	13
28	18	13

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	48	52
8	49	51
9	49	51
10	49	51
11	50	50
12	51	49
13	51	49
14	51	49
15	52	48
16	52	48
17	52	48
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	52	48
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	53	47
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	54	46
27	54	46
28	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	22
2	22
3	22
4	22
5	22
6	22
7	22
8	22
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	23
17	24
18	24
19	24
20	24
21	24
22	24
23	24
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	63	29	8
2	63	29	8
3	63	29	8
4	63	29	8
5	63	29	8
6	63	30	7
7	63	30	7
8	62	31	7
9	63	31	6
10	62	32	6
11	62	33	5
12	61	34	5
13	60	35	5
14	60	36	4
15	60	36	4
16	60	37	3
17	60	37	3
18	60	37	3
19	61	37	2
20	61	37	2
21	62	36	2
22	62	36	2
23	63	35	2
24	64	34	2
25	65	33	2
26	67	32	1
27	69	30	1
28	70	29	1

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	14
2	19	14
3	19	14
4	19	14
5	19	14
6	19	14
7	19	14
8	19	14
9	19	14
10	19	14
11	19	14
12	19	14
13	19	14
14	19	14
15	19	14
16	19	14
17	19	14
18	19	14
19	19	14
20	19	14
21	19	14
22	19	14
23	19	14
24	19	14
25	19	14
26	18	13
27	18	13
28	18	13

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	48	52
8	49	51
9	49	51
10	49	51
11	50	50
12	51	49
13	51	49
14	51	49
15	52	48
16	52	48
17	52	48
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	52	48
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	53	47
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	54	46
27	54	46
28	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	22
2	22
3	22
4	22
5	22
6	22
7	22
8	22
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	23
17	24
18	24
19	24
20	24
21	24
22	24
23	24
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	63	29	8
2	63	29	8
3	63	29	8
4	63	29	8
5	63	29	8
6	63	30	7
7	63	30	7
8	62	31	7
9	63	31	6
10	62	32	6
11	62	33	5
12	61	34	5
13	60	35	5
14	60	36	4
15	60	36	4
16	60	37	3
17	60	37	3
18	60	37	3
19	61	37	2
20	61	37	2
21	62	36	2
22	62	36	2
23	63	35	2
24	64	34	2
25	65	33	2
26	67	32	1
27	69	30	1
28	70	29	1

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	14
2	19	14
3	19	14
4	19	14
5	19	14
6	19	14
7	19	14
8	19	14
9	19	14
10	19	14
11	19	14
12	19	14
13	19	14
14	19	14
15	19	14
16	19	14
17	19	14
18	19	14
19	19	14
20	19	14
21	19	14
22	19	14
23	19	14
24	19	14
25	19	14
26	18	13
27	18	13
28	18	13

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	48	52
8	49	51
9	49	51
10	49	51
11	50	50
12	51	49
13	51	49
14	51	49
15	52	48
16	52	48
17	52	48
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	52	48
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	53	47
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	54	46
27	54	46
28	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	22
2	22
3	22
4	22
5	22
6	22
7	22
8	22
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	23
13	23
14	23
15	23
16	23
17	24
18	24
19	24
20	24
21	24
22	24
23	24
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	63	29	8
2	63	29	8
3	63	29	8
4	63	29	8
5	63	29	8
6	63	30	7
7	63	30	7
8	62	31	7
9	63	31	6
10	62	32	6
11	62	33	5
12	61	34	5
13	60	35	5
14	60	36	4
15	60	36	4
16	60	37	3
17	60	37	3
18	60	37	3
19	61	37	2
20	61	37	2
21	62	36	2
22	62	36	2
23	63	35	2
24	64	34	2
25	65	33	2
26	67	32	1
27	69	30	1
28	70	29	1