Napier weather in December

In December, Napier sees average daytime highs of 20°C and overnight lows near 15°C, with 58 mm of rain across 9.3 wet days and about 14.7 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 19°C in the first days to 21°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 30% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 14 h 36 min at the start of December to 14 h 48 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Napier's 12th-clearest and 7th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Napier's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 20°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 15°; 9th coldest
Rainfall: 58 mm; 9.3 wet days
Daylight: 14 h 48 min; 5:45 AM – 8:32 PM
Cloud cover: 60%; 12th clearest
Wind: 15 km/h; 7th windiest
Solar energy: 6.69 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.4; out of 10

Napier is city in the North Island of New Zealand.

Air quality: Excellent; PM10 13.7 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 626/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1851

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

← November Napier year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

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

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 19°C in the first days to 21°C by the end.

A typical December day in Napier reaches about 20°C in the afternoon and slips back to 15°C overnight — a 5°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 16°C and 24°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs about 2°C warmer than November and about 2°C cooler than January.

	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)	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	21	21	21
Avg low (°C)	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16

	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	20	14
8	20	15
9	20	15
10	20	15
11	20	15
12	20	15
13	20	15
14	20	15
15	20	15
16	20	15
17	20	15
18	20	15
19	20	15
20	20	15
21	20	15
22	20	15
23	20	15
24	20	15
25	21	15
26	21	15
27	21	16
28	21	16
29	21	16
30	21	16
31	21	16

Napier weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 4th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	22° / 16°	63	7.7	14.5	7.0
Feb	22° / 17°	56	8	13.6	6.8
Mar	20° / 15°	65	8.2	12.3	6.7
Apr	18° / 13°	80	8.8	11	6.1
May	16° / 11°	65	9.1	9.9	5.2
Jun	14° / 9°	79	10.1	9.3	4.1
Jul	13° / 8°	92	11.1	9.5	3.5
Aug	13° / 8°	71	10.6	10.4	3.8
Sep	15° / 9°	62	9.4	11.7	4.6
Oct	16° / 11°	63	9.3	13	5.4
Nov	18° / 13°	58	8.8	14.2	6.1
Dec	20° / 15°	58	9.3	14.7	6.4

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 30% of the time in December, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 19% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 52%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	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 (%)	50	49	49	49	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	46	46	47	46	46	46	46	46	47	47	47	48	48	49	50	52	53	54	55	55
Cloudier (%)	50	51	51	51	53	53	53	53	53	53	53	54	54	53	54	54	54	54	54	53	53	53	52	52	51	50	48	47	46	45	45

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	47	53
6	47	53
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	50	50
27	52	48
28	53	47
29	54	46
30	55	45
31	55	45

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Napier gets around 58 mm of rain over 9.3 wet days in December. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 29% and peaks near 32% 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 (%)	29	29	29	29	30	30	30	30	30	30	31	31	31	31	32	32	32	32	31	31	31	30	30	29	28	28	27	26	25	24	24

	Rain chance (%)
1	29
2	29
3	29
4	29
5	30
6	30
7	30
8	30
9	30
10	30
11	31
12	31
13	31
14	31
15	32
16	32
17	32
18	32
19	31
20	31
21	31
22	30
23	30
24	29
25	28
26	28
27	27
28	26
29	25
30	24
31	24

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, December lands in the dry band about 53% 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 (%)	64	62	61	59	58	56	56	55	54	53	53	53	52	52	52	53	53	52	51	51	51	52	52	51	51	51	51	49	49	48	47
Comfortable (%)	31	32	33	34	34	35	35	35	35	35	35	35	35	35	35	34	34	35	35	35	35	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	35	35
Humid (%)	5	6	6	7	8	9	9	10	11	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	16	16	17	18

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	64	31	5
2	62	32	6
3	61	33	6
4	59	34	7
5	58	34	8
6	56	35	9
7	56	35	9
8	55	35	10
9	54	35	11
10	53	35	12
11	53	35	12
12	53	35	12
13	52	35	13
14	52	35	13
15	52	35	13
16	53	34	13
17	53	34	13
18	52	35	13
19	51	35	14
20	51	35	14
21	51	35	14
22	52	34	14
23	52	34	14
24	51	34	15
25	51	34	15
26	51	34	15
27	51	34	15
28	49	34	16
29	49	34	16
30	48	35	17
31	47	35	18

Wind in December

Winds average 15 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 15 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	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15
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	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

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

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 14 h 36 min at the start of December to 14 h 48 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 12 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 5:45 AM to 5:53 AM, and sunset from 8:20 PM to 8:38 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)	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8
Sunrise (AM)	5:45	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:45	5:45	5:45	5:45	5:46	5:46	5:46	5:47	5:47	5:48	5:48	5:49	5:49	5:50	5:50	5:51	5:52	5:52	5:53
Sunset (PM)	8:20	8:21	8:21	8:22	8:23	8:24	8:25	8:26	8:27	8:27	8:28	8:29	8:30	8:30	8:31	8:32	8:32	8:33	8:34	8:34	8:35	8:35	8:36	8:36	8:36	8:37	8:37	8:37	8:38	8:38	8:38

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	14.6	5:45	8:20
2	14.6	5:44	8:21
3	14.6	5:44	8:21
4	14.6	5:44	8:22
5	14.7	5:44	8:23
6	14.7	5:44	8:24
7	14.7	5:44	8:25
8	14.7	5:44	8:26
9	14.7	5:44	8:27
10	14.7	5:44	8:27
11	14.7	5:44	8:28
12	14.7	5:44	8:29
13	14.8	5:45	8:30
14	14.8	5:45	8:30
15	14.8	5:45	8:31
16	14.8	5:45	8:32
17	14.8	5:46	8:32
18	14.8	5:46	8:33
19	14.8	5:46	8:34
20	14.8	5:47	8:34
21	14.8	5:47	8:35
22	14.8	5:48	8:35
23	14.8	5:48	8:36
24	14.8	5:49	8:36
25	14.8	5:49	8:36
26	14.8	5:50	8:37
27	14.8	5:50	8:37
28	14.8	5:51	8:37
29	14.8	5:52	8:38
30	14.8	5:52	8:38
31	14.8	5:53	8:38

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 6.69 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.8 kWh/m² to a high of 6.98 kWh/m² in January across the year — December's 6.69 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

	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)	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.9	6.9	7.0	7.0	7.1	7.2	7.2	7.3	7.3	7.4	7.4
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	6.5	Intense
2	6.6	Intense
3	6.6	Intense
4	6.6	Intense
5	6.6	Intense
6	6.6	Intense
7	6.6	Intense
8	6.6	Intense
9	6.6	Intense
10	6.7	Intense
11	6.7	Intense
12	6.7	Intense
13	6.7	Intense
14	6.7	Intense
15	6.7	Intense
16	6.7	Intense
17	6.8	Intense
18	6.8	Intense
19	6.8	Intense
20	6.8	Intense
21	6.9	Intense
22	6.9	Intense
23	7.0	Intense
24	7.0	Intense
25	7.1	Intense
26	7.2	Intense
27	7.2	Intense
28	7.3	Intense
29	7.3	Intense
30	7.4	Intense
31	7.4	Intense

Planning a trip in December

Is December a good time to visit Napier?

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

6.4

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

3.4

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

December is a reasonable time to visit Napier for sightseeing.

What to pack for Napier in December

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

In December, Napier sees daytime highs around 20°C and nights near 15°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

sun protectionrain gear

Sea temperature near Napier in December

The nearest coast averages about 17°C in December — 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 20°C and coldest in August near 13°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)	19	20	19	18	16	14	13	13	13	14	16	17
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	19	Cool
Feb	20	Cool
Mar	19	Cool
Apr	18	Cool
May	16	Cool
Jun	14	Bracing
Jul	13	Bracing
Aug	13	Bracing
Sep	13	Bracing
Oct	14	Bracing
Nov	16	Cool
Dec	17	Cool

UV index in Napier in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 12 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Napier peaks around January 13 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	12	11	7	5	2	2	2	3	4	7	11	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	12	Extreme
Feb	11	Extreme
Mar	7	High
Apr	5	Moderate
May	2	Moderate
Jun	2	Low
Jul	2	Moderate
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	7	High
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	12	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Napier?

Napier sits at 39.5°S, 176.9°E, 6 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Hastings, 17 km away.

Topography around Napier

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Napier has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 97 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 366 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,719 m.

The land around Napier is covered by water (52%) and artificial surfaces (31%) within 3 km, water (51%) and grassland (30%) within 16 km, and grassland (37%), water (32%) and trees (30%) within 80 km.

3 km

97 m

water 52%

16 km

366 m

water 51%

80 km

1,719 m

grassland 37%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland

← November Napier year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

December weather nearby: Hastings 17 km · Taupo 115 km · Gisborne 133 km · Palmerston North 147 km · Rotorua 161 km · Whanganui 167 km · Whakatane 171 km · Levin 188 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 Napier (-39.4926°, 176.9123°, 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	19	14
2	19	14
3	19	14
4	19	14
5	19	14
6	19	14
7	20	14
8	20	15
9	20	15
10	20	15
11	20	15
12	20	15
13	20	15
14	20	15
15	20	15
16	20	15
17	20	15
18	20	15
19	20	15
20	20	15
21	20	15
22	20	15
23	20	15
24	20	15
25	21	15
26	21	15
27	21	16
28	21	16
29	21	16
30	21	16
31	21	16

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	47	53
6	47	53
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	50	50
27	52	48
28	53	47
29	54	46
30	55	45
31	55	45

	Rain chance (%)
1	29
2	29
3	29
4	29
5	30
6	30
7	30
8	30
9	30
10	30
11	31
12	31
13	31
14	31
15	32
16	32
17	32
18	32
19	31
20	31
21	31
22	30
23	30
24	29
25	28
26	28
27	27
28	26
29	25
30	24
31	24

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	64	31	5
2	62	32	6
3	61	33	6
4	59	34	7
5	58	34	8
6	56	35	9
7	56	35	9
8	55	35	10
9	54	35	11
10	53	35	12
11	53	35	12
12	53	35	12
13	52	35	13
14	52	35	13
15	52	35	13
16	53	34	13
17	53	34	13
18	52	35	13
19	51	35	14
20	51	35	14
21	51	35	14
22	52	34	14
23	52	34	14
24	51	34	15
25	51	34	15
26	51	34	15
27	51	34	15
28	49	34	16
29	49	34	16
30	48	35	17
31	47	35	18

	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	20	14
8	20	15
9	20	15
10	20	15
11	20	15
12	20	15
13	20	15
14	20	15
15	20	15
16	20	15
17	20	15
18	20	15
19	20	15
20	20	15
21	20	15
22	20	15
23	20	15
24	20	15
25	21	15
26	21	15
27	21	16
28	21	16
29	21	16
30	21	16
31	21	16

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	47	53
6	47	53
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	50	50
27	52	48
28	53	47
29	54	46
30	55	45
31	55	45

	Rain chance (%)
1	29
2	29
3	29
4	29
5	30
6	30
7	30
8	30
9	30
10	30
11	31
12	31
13	31
14	31
15	32
16	32
17	32
18	32
19	31
20	31
21	31
22	30
23	30
24	29
25	28
26	28
27	27
28	26
29	25
30	24
31	24

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	64	31	5
2	62	32	6
3	61	33	6
4	59	34	7
5	58	34	8
6	56	35	9
7	56	35	9
8	55	35	10
9	54	35	11
10	53	35	12
11	53	35	12
12	53	35	12
13	52	35	13
14	52	35	13
15	52	35	13
16	53	34	13
17	53	34	13
18	52	35	13
19	51	35	14
20	51	35	14
21	51	35	14
22	52	34	14
23	52	34	14
24	51	34	15
25	51	34	15
26	51	34	15
27	51	34	15
28	49	34	16
29	49	34	16
30	48	35	17
31	47	35	18

	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	20	14
8	20	15
9	20	15
10	20	15
11	20	15
12	20	15
13	20	15
14	20	15
15	20	15
16	20	15
17	20	15
18	20	15
19	20	15
20	20	15
21	20	15
22	20	15
23	20	15
24	20	15
25	21	15
26	21	15
27	21	16
28	21	16
29	21	16
30	21	16
31	21	16

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	47	53
6	47	53
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	50	50
27	52	48
28	53	47
29	54	46
30	55	45
31	55	45

	Rain chance (%)
1	29
2	29
3	29
4	29
5	30
6	30
7	30
8	30
9	30
10	30
11	31
12	31
13	31
14	31
15	32
16	32
17	32
18	32
19	31
20	31
21	31
22	30
23	30
24	29
25	28
26	28
27	27
28	26
29	25
30	24
31	24

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	64	31	5
2	62	32	6
3	61	33	6
4	59	34	7
5	58	34	8
6	56	35	9
7	56	35	9
8	55	35	10
9	54	35	11
10	53	35	12
11	53	35	12
12	53	35	12
13	52	35	13
14	52	35	13
15	52	35	13
16	53	34	13
17	53	34	13
18	52	35	13
19	51	35	14
20	51	35	14
21	51	35	14
22	52	34	14
23	52	34	14
24	51	34	15
25	51	34	15
26	51	34	15
27	51	34	15
28	49	34	16
29	49	34	16
30	48	35	17
31	47	35	18