Invercargill weather in October

In October, Invercargill sees average daytime highs of 13°C and overnight lows near 8°C, with 119 mm of rain across 17.5 wet days and about 13.3 hours of daylight. It is the 7th-warmest and 1st-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 13°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 10% of the time in October, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 30 min at the start of October to 14 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, October is Invercargill's 6th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Invercargill's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 13°; 7th warmest
Overnight low: 8°; 6th coldest
Rainfall: 119 mm; 17.5 wet days
Daylight: 13 h 18 min; 6:51 AM – 8:12 PM
Cloud cover: 71%; 6th clearest
Wind: 22 km/h; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 4.41 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.0; out of 10

Invercargill is city in New Zealand's Southland region.

Air quality: Good; PM10 23.6 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 118/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1853

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

← September Invercargill year-round climate November →Best places to visit in October

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

Temperature in October

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 13°C through the month.

A typical October day in Invercargill reaches about 13°C in the afternoon and slips back to 8°C overnight — a 6°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 10°C and 17°C. Set against its neighbours, October runs about 1°C warmer than September and about 1°C cooler than November.

	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	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Avg low (°C)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	13	7
2	13	7
3	13	7
4	13	7
5	13	7
6	13	7
7	13	7
8	13	7
9	13	7
10	13	7
11	13	7
12	13	7
13	13	7
14	13	7
15	13	8
16	13	8
17	13	8
18	13	8
19	13	8
20	13	8
21	13	8
22	13	8
23	13	8
24	13	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	8
31	14	8

Invercargill weather by month

How October compares with the rest of the year at a glance. October is the 7th-warmest and 1st-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	17° / 11°	118	14.2	15.2	4.9
Feb	17° / 12°	97	12.1	14	5.1
Mar	16° / 10°	98	13.5	12.4	4.5
Apr	14° / 9°	95	13.5	10.7	3.7
May	12° / 7°	107	15.6	9.2	2.7
Jun	10° / 5°	93	15.6	8.5	1.9
Jul	9° / 5°	84	14.9	8.8	1.8
Aug	10° / 5°	81	14.8	10	2.2
Sep	12° / 6°	93	15.2	11.6	2.7
Oct	13° / 8°	119	17.5	13.3	3.0
Nov	14° / 9°	111	16.4	14.8	3.5
Dec	16° / 10°	109	15.5	15.5	4.3

Cloud cover in October

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 10% of the time in October.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 20% of October, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 70%.

	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	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	32	32	32	33	33	32	32	32	31	31	31	30	30	30	29	29	29	28	28	28	28	28	29	29	29	29	29	30	29	29	29
Cloudier (%)	68	68	68	67	67	68	68	68	69	69	69	70	70	70	71	71	71	72	72	72	72	72	71	71	71	71	71	70	71	71	71

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	32	68
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	32	68
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	31	69
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	29	71
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	29	71
24	29	71
25	29	71
26	29	71
27	29	71
28	30	70
29	29	71
30	29	71
31	29	71

Chance of precipitation in October

Any precipitation

Invercargill gets around 119 mm of rain over 17.5 wet days in October, the wettest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 56% and peaks near 58% 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	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	56	56	56	57	57	57	58	58	58	58	58	58	58	58	57	57	56	55	55	54	53	52	52	51

	Rain chance (%)
1	55
2	55
3	55
4	55
5	55
6	55
7	55
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	57
12	57
13	57
14	58
15	58
16	58
17	58
18	58
19	58
20	58
21	58
22	57
23	57
24	56
25	55
26	55
27	54
28	53
29	52
30	52
31	51

Humidity in October

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, October lands in the dry band about 100% 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	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in October

Winds average 22 km/h in October, the windiest month of the year.

Across October, daily wind ranges from about 21 km/h on the calmest days to 23 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	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	22	22	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	21
Feels	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	22	breezy
2	22	breezy
3	22	breezy
4	22	breezy
5	22	breezy
6	22	breezy
7	22	breezy
8	22	breezy
9	22	breezy
10	22	breezy
11	22	breezy
12	23	breezy
13	23	breezy
14	23	breezy
15	23	breezy
16	23	breezy
17	23	breezy
18	23	breezy
19	23	breezy
20	23	breezy
21	22	breezy
22	22	breezy
23	22	breezy
24	22	breezy
25	22	breezy
26	22	breezy
27	21	breezy
28	21	breezy
29	21	breezy
30	21	breezy
31	21	breezy

Sunrise & sunset in October

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 30 min at the start of October to 14 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 96 minutes over October. Sunrise moves from 7:20 AM to 6:26 AM, and sunset from 7:51 PM to 8:34 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	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	12.5	12.6	12.6	12.7	12.7	12.8	12.9	12.9	13.0	13.0	13.1	13.1	13.2	13.2	13.3	13.3	13.4	13.5	13.5	13.6	13.6	13.7	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.9	13.9	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1
Sunrise (AM)	7:20	7:18	7:16	7:14	7:12	7:10	7:08	7:06	7:04	7:02	7:00	6:59	6:57	6:55	6:53	6:51	6:49	6:48	6:46	6:44	6:42	6:41	6:39	6:37	6:36	6:34	6:32	6:31	6:29	6:28	6:26
Sunset (PM)	7:51	7:53	7:54	7:55	7:57	7:58	7:59	8:01	8:02	8:04	8:05	8:06	8:08	8:09	8:11	8:12	8:14	8:15	8:16	8:18	8:19	8:21	8:22	8:24	8:25	8:27	8:28	8:30	8:31	8:32	8:34

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.5	7:20	7:51
2	12.6	7:18	7:53
3	12.6	7:16	7:54
4	12.7	7:14	7:55
5	12.7	7:12	7:57
6	12.8	7:10	7:58
7	12.9	7:08	7:59
8	12.9	7:06	8:01
9	13.0	7:04	8:02
10	13.0	7:02	8:04
11	13.1	7:00	8:05
12	13.1	6:59	8:06
13	13.2	6:57	8:08
14	13.2	6:55	8:09
15	13.3	6:53	8:11
16	13.3	6:51	8:12
17	13.4	6:49	8:14
18	13.5	6:48	8:15
19	13.5	6:46	8:16
20	13.6	6:44	8:18
21	13.6	6:42	8:19
22	13.7	6:41	8:21
23	13.7	6:39	8:22
24	13.8	6:37	8:24
25	13.8	6:36	8:25
26	13.9	6:34	8:27
27	13.9	6:32	8:28
28	14.0	6:31	8:30
29	14.0	6:29	8:31
30	14.1	6:28	8:32
31	14.1	6:26	8:34

Solar energy in October

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in October, about 4.41 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.05 kWh/m² to a high of 6.11 kWh/m² in December across the year — October's 4.41 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	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	3.8	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.9	4.9	5.0	5.0
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	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	3.8	Moderate
2	3.9	Moderate
3	3.9	Moderate
4	4.0	Moderate
5	4.0	Bright
6	4.0	Bright
7	4.1	Bright
8	4.1	Bright
9	4.2	Bright
10	4.2	Bright
11	4.2	Bright
12	4.3	Bright
13	4.3	Bright
14	4.3	Bright
15	4.4	Bright
16	4.4	Bright
17	4.4	Bright
18	4.5	Bright
19	4.5	Bright
20	4.5	Bright
21	4.6	Bright
22	4.6	Bright
23	4.7	Bright
24	4.7	Bright
25	4.8	Bright
26	4.8	Bright
27	4.8	Bright
28	4.9	Bright
29	4.9	Bright
30	5.0	Bright
31	5.0	Bright

Planning a trip in October

Is October a good time to visit Invercargill?

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

3.0

Sightseeing

7th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

October is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Invercargill.

What to pack for Invercargill in October

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

In October, Invercargill sees daytime highs around 13°C and nights near 8°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: a warm layer and a windbreaker. About 18 days see rain.

rain geara warm layera windbreaker

Sea temperature near Invercargill in October

The nearest coast averages about 12°C in October — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 17 km away) is warmest in February at about 15°C and coldest in August near 10°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)	15	15	15	14	13	11	11	10	11	12	13	14
Comfort	Bracing	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

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

UV index in Invercargill in October

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in October peaks around 5 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Invercargill peaks around January 15 at about 10 (very high) — 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 6 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	10	8	5	3	1	1	1	2	3	5	7	9
Level	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	10	Very high
Feb	8	Very high
Mar	5	High
Apr	3	Moderate
May	1	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	1	Low
Aug	2	Low
Sep	3	Moderate
Oct	5	High
Nov	7	Very high
Dec	9	Very high

Location & terrain

Where is Invercargill?

Invercargill sits at 46.4°S, 168.3°E, 6 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Queenstown, 154 km away.

Topography around Invercargill

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Invercargill has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 21 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 193 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,492 m.

The land around Invercargill is covered by grassland (45%) and artificial surfaces (38%) within 3 km, grassland (69%) within 16 km, and grassland (41%) and water (39%) within 80 km.

3 km

21 m

grassland 45%

16 km

193 m

grassland 69%

80 km

1,492 m

grassland 41%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland

← September Invercargill year-round climate November →Best places to visit in October

October weather nearby: Queenstown 154 km · Dunedin 176 km · Wanaka 199 km · Tekapo 314 km · Timaru 318 km · Franz Josef 365 km · Ashburton 384 km · Rolleston 446 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 Invercargill (-46.4°, 168.35°, elevation 6 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. 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	13	7
2	13	7
3	13	7
4	13	7
5	13	7
6	13	7
7	13	7
8	13	7
9	13	7
10	13	7
11	13	7
12	13	7
13	13	7
14	13	7
15	13	8
16	13	8
17	13	8
18	13	8
19	13	8
20	13	8
21	13	8
22	13	8
23	13	8
24	13	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	8
31	14	8

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	32	68
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	32	68
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	31	69
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	29	71
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	29	71
24	29	71
25	29	71
26	29	71
27	29	71
28	30	70
29	29	71
30	29	71
31	29	71

	Rain chance (%)
1	55
2	55
3	55
4	55
5	55
6	55
7	55
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	57
12	57
13	57
14	58
15	58
16	58
17	58
18	58
19	58
20	58
21	58
22	57
23	57
24	56
25	55
26	55
27	54
28	53
29	52
30	52
31	51

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	13	7
2	13	7
3	13	7
4	13	7
5	13	7
6	13	7
7	13	7
8	13	7
9	13	7
10	13	7
11	13	7
12	13	7
13	13	7
14	13	7
15	13	8
16	13	8
17	13	8
18	13	8
19	13	8
20	13	8
21	13	8
22	13	8
23	13	8
24	13	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	8
31	14	8

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	32	68
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	32	68
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	31	69
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	29	71
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	29	71
24	29	71
25	29	71
26	29	71
27	29	71
28	30	70
29	29	71
30	29	71
31	29	71

	Rain chance (%)
1	55
2	55
3	55
4	55
5	55
6	55
7	55
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	57
12	57
13	57
14	58
15	58
16	58
17	58
18	58
19	58
20	58
21	58
22	57
23	57
24	56
25	55
26	55
27	54
28	53
29	52
30	52
31	51

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	13	7
2	13	7
3	13	7
4	13	7
5	13	7
6	13	7
7	13	7
8	13	7
9	13	7
10	13	7
11	13	7
12	13	7
13	13	7
14	13	7
15	13	8
16	13	8
17	13	8
18	13	8
19	13	8
20	13	8
21	13	8
22	13	8
23	13	8
24	13	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	8
31	14	8

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	32	68
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	32	68
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	31	69
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	29	71
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	29	71
24	29	71
25	29	71
26	29	71
27	29	71
28	30	70
29	29	71
30	29	71
31	29	71

	Rain chance (%)
1	55
2	55
3	55
4	55
5	55
6	55
7	55
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	57
12	57
13	57
14	58
15	58
16	58
17	58
18	58
19	58
20	58
21	58
22	57
23	57
24	56
25	55
26	55
27	54
28	53
29	52
30	52
31	51

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100