Nelson weather in March

In March, Nelson sees average daytime highs of 18°C and overnight lows near 13°C, with 93 mm of rain across 8.8 wet days and about 12.3 hours of daylight. It is the 3rd-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 19°C in the first days to 17°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 39% of the time in March, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 hours at the start of March to 11 h 36 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, March is Nelson's 3rd-clearest and 7th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Nelson's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 18°; 3rd warmest
Overnight low: 13°; 10th coldest
Rainfall: 93 mm; 8.8 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 18 min; 7:26 AM – 7:47 PM
Cloud cover: 52%; 3rd clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 7th windiest
Solar energy: 4.62 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.2; out of 10

Nelson is city on the South Island, New Zealand.

Density: 122/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1841

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

← February Nelson year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

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

Temperature in March

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs ease over the month, from about 19°C in the first days to 17°C by the end.

A typical March day in Nelson reaches about 18°C in the afternoon and slips back to 13°C overnight — a 6°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 16°C and 20°C. Set against its neighbours, March runs about 2°C cooler than February and about 2°C warmer than April.

	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	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17
Avg low (°C)	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

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

Nelson weather by month

How March compares with the rest of the year at a glance. March is the 3rd-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	19° / 14°	102	9.8	14.6	6.3
Feb	20° / 14°	80	8.1	13.7	6.5
Mar	18° / 13°	93	8.8	12.3	6.2
Apr	16° / 11°	108	10.5	10.9	4.9
May	13° / 9°	120	10.7	9.7	3.9
Jun	11° / 7°	127	10.6	9.1	2.8
Jul	10° / 6°	110	9.4	9.3	2.5
Aug	11° / 6°	114	11.8	10.3	2.6
Sep	12° / 7°	117	12.2	11.7	3.2
Oct	14° / 9°	131	13	13.1	3.9
Nov	16° / 10°	109	11.6	14.3	4.7
Dec	18° / 13°	125	12.8	14.9	5.4

Cloud cover in March

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 39% of the time in March.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 20% of March, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 40%.

	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 (%)	61	61	61	61	60	60	61	60	60	60	60	60	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	60	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	58	59
Cloudier (%)	39	39	39	39	40	40	39	40	40	40	40	40	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	40	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	42	41

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	61	39
2	61	39
3	61	39
4	61	39
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	61	39
8	60	40
9	60	40
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	59	41
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	59	41
19	59	41
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	59	41
24	59	41
25	59	41
26	59	41
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	59	41
30	58	42
31	59	41

Chance of precipitation in March

Any precipitation

Nelson gets around 93 mm of rain over 8.8 wet days in March. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 28% and peaks near 33% 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 (%)	28	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	29	29	29	30	30	30	31	32	32	33

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	27
3	27
4	27
5	27
6	27
7	27
8	27
9	27
10	27
11	27
12	27
13	27
14	27
15	27
16	27
17	27
18	28
19	28
20	28
21	28
22	29
23	29
24	29
25	30
26	30
27	30
28	31
29	32
30	32
31	33

Humidity in March

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, March lands in the dry band about 68% 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 (%)	58	61	62	63	64	66	67	68	69	69	70	70	70	70	70	70	69	69	68	68	68	68	67	68	68	69	70	70	71	72	74
Comfortable (%)	35	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	26	26	25	25	25	25	25	25	26	26	27	27	27	27	28	27	27	27	26	26	25	24	23
Humid (%)	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	3

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	58	35	7
2	61	33	6
3	62	32	6
4	63	31	6
5	64	30	6
6	66	29	5
7	67	28	5
8	68	27	5
9	69	26	5
10	69	26	5
11	70	25	5
12	70	25	5
13	70	25	5
14	70	25	5
15	70	25	5
16	70	25	5
17	69	26	5
18	69	26	5
19	68	27	5
20	68	27	5
21	68	27	5
22	68	27	5
23	67	28	5
24	68	27	5
25	68	27	5
26	69	27	4
27	70	26	4
28	70	26	4
29	71	25	4
30	72	24	4
31	74	23	3

Wind in March

Winds average 10 km/h in March.

Across March, daily wind ranges from about 9 km/h on the calmest days to 10 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)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

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

Sunrise & sunset in March

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 hours at the start of March to 11 h 36 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 84 minutes over March. Sunrise moves from 7:09 AM to 7:43 AM, and sunset from 8:11 PM to 7:21 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)	13.0	13.0	12.9	12.9	12.9	12.8	12.8	12.7	12.7	12.6	12.6	12.5	12.5	12.4	12.4	12.3	12.3	12.2	12.2	12.2	12.1	12.1	12.0	12.0	11.9	11.9	11.8	11.8	11.7	11.7	11.6
Sunrise (AM)	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:13	7:14	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:21	7:22	7:23	7:24	7:25	7:26	7:27	7:29	7:30	7:31	7:32	7:33	7:34	7:35	7:36	7:37	7:38	7:40	7:41	7:42	7:43
Sunset (PM)	8:11	8:10	8:08	8:07	8:05	8:03	8:02	8:00	7:58	7:57	7:55	7:54	7:52	7:50	7:48	7:47	7:45	7:43	7:42	7:40	7:38	7:36	7:35	7:33	7:31	7:30	7:28	7:26	7:24	7:23	7:21

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.0	7:09	8:11
2	13.0	7:10	8:10
3	12.9	7:11	8:08
4	12.9	7:13	8:07
5	12.9	7:14	8:05
6	12.8	7:15	8:03
7	12.8	7:16	8:02
8	12.7	7:17	8:00
9	12.7	7:18	7:58
10	12.6	7:19	7:57
11	12.6	7:21	7:55
12	12.5	7:22	7:54
13	12.5	7:23	7:52
14	12.4	7:24	7:50
15	12.4	7:25	7:48
16	12.3	7:26	7:47
17	12.3	7:27	7:45
18	12.2	7:29	7:43
19	12.2	7:30	7:42
20	12.2	7:31	7:40
21	12.1	7:32	7:38
22	12.1	7:33	7:36
23	12.0	7:34	7:35
24	12.0	7:35	7:33
25	11.9	7:36	7:31
26	11.9	7:37	7:30
27	11.8	7:38	7:28
28	11.8	7:40	7:26
29	11.7	7:41	7:24
30	11.7	7:42	7:23
31	11.6	7:43	7:21

Solar energy in March

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in March, about 4.62 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.64 kWh/m² to a high of 7.08 kWh/m² in January across the year — March's 4.62 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)	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.0	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.7	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.9
Level	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	Bright	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.3	Bright
2	5.3	Bright
3	5.3	Bright
4	5.2	Bright
5	5.2	Bright
6	5.1	Bright
7	5.1	Bright
8	5.0	Bright
9	5.0	Bright
10	4.9	Bright
11	4.9	Bright
12	4.8	Bright
13	4.8	Bright
14	4.7	Bright
15	4.7	Bright
16	4.6	Bright
17	4.6	Bright
18	4.5	Bright
19	4.5	Bright
20	4.4	Bright
21	4.4	Bright
22	4.3	Bright
23	4.3	Bright
24	4.2	Bright
25	4.2	Bright
26	4.1	Bright
27	4.1	Bright
28	4.0	Bright
29	4.0	Moderate
30	3.9	Moderate
31	3.9	Moderate

Planning a trip in March

Is March a good time to visit Nelson?

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

6.2

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

2.1

Beach & pool

3rd-best month of the year

March is a reasonable time to visit Nelson for sightseeing.

What to pack for Nelson in March

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

In March, Nelson sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 13°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 9 days see rain.

rain gearsun protection

Sea temperature near Nelson in March

The nearest coast averages about 19°C in March — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 18 km away) is warmest in February at about 20°C and coldest in August near 12°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	17	15	14	12	12	12	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	17	Cool
May	15	Cool
Jun	14	Bracing
Jul	12	Bracing
Aug	12	Bracing
Sep	12	Bracing
Oct	14	Bracing
Nov	16	Cool
Dec	17	Cool

UV index in Nelson in March

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in March peaks around 6 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Nelson peaks around January 1 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	4	2	1	2	3	4	6	9	11
Level	Extreme	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	10	Extreme
Mar	6	High
Apr	4	Moderate
May	2	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	2	Low
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	9	Very high
Dec	11	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Nelson?

Nelson sits at 41.3°S, 173.3°E, 11 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Stoke, 7.0 km away.

Topography around Nelson

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nelson has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 403 m around an average of 62 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,211 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,095 m.

The land around Nelson is covered by trees (42%) and water (32%) within 3 km, trees (46%) and water (38%) within 16 km, and trees (48%), water (28%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km

403 m

trees 42%

16 km

1,211 m

trees 46%

80 km

2,095 m

trees 48%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← February Nelson year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

March weather nearby: Stoke 7.0 km · Richmond 11 km · Picton 61 km · Blenheim 62 km · Karori 122 km · Wellington 125 km · Kaikoura 132 km · Porirua 132 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 Nelson (-41.2708°, 173.284°, elevation 11 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	13
2	19	13
3	19	13
4	19	13
5	19	13
6	19	13
7	18	13
8	18	13
9	18	13
10	18	13
11	18	13
12	18	13
13	18	13
14	18	13
15	18	13
16	18	13
17	18	13
18	18	13
19	18	12
20	18	12
21	18	12
22	18	12
23	18	12
24	18	12
25	18	12
26	17	12
27	17	12
28	17	12
29	17	12
30	17	12
31	17	12

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	61	39
2	61	39
3	61	39
4	61	39
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	61	39
8	60	40
9	60	40
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	59	41
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	59	41
19	59	41
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	59	41
24	59	41
25	59	41
26	59	41
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	59	41
30	58	42
31	59	41

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	27
3	27
4	27
5	27
6	27
7	27
8	27
9	27
10	27
11	27
12	27
13	27
14	27
15	27
16	27
17	27
18	28
19	28
20	28
21	28
22	29
23	29
24	29
25	30
26	30
27	30
28	31
29	32
30	32
31	33

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	58	35	7
2	61	33	6
3	62	32	6
4	63	31	6
5	64	30	6
6	66	29	5
7	67	28	5
8	68	27	5
9	69	26	5
10	69	26	5
11	70	25	5
12	70	25	5
13	70	25	5
14	70	25	5
15	70	25	5
16	70	25	5
17	69	26	5
18	69	26	5
19	68	27	5
20	68	27	5
21	68	27	5
22	68	27	5
23	67	28	5
24	68	27	5
25	68	27	5
26	69	27	4
27	70	26	4
28	70	26	4
29	71	25	4
30	72	24	4
31	74	23	3

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	61	39
2	61	39
3	61	39
4	61	39
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	61	39
8	60	40
9	60	40
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	59	41
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	59	41
19	59	41
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	59	41
24	59	41
25	59	41
26	59	41
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	59	41
30	58	42
31	59	41

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	27
3	27
4	27
5	27
6	27
7	27
8	27
9	27
10	27
11	27
12	27
13	27
14	27
15	27
16	27
17	27
18	28
19	28
20	28
21	28
22	29
23	29
24	29
25	30
26	30
27	30
28	31
29	32
30	32
31	33

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	58	35	7
2	61	33	6
3	62	32	6
4	63	31	6
5	64	30	6
6	66	29	5
7	67	28	5
8	68	27	5
9	69	26	5
10	69	26	5
11	70	25	5
12	70	25	5
13	70	25	5
14	70	25	5
15	70	25	5
16	70	25	5
17	69	26	5
18	69	26	5
19	68	27	5
20	68	27	5
21	68	27	5
22	68	27	5
23	67	28	5
24	68	27	5
25	68	27	5
26	69	27	4
27	70	26	4
28	70	26	4
29	71	25	4
30	72	24	4
31	74	23	3

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	61	39
2	61	39
3	61	39
4	61	39
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	61	39
8	60	40
9	60	40
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	59	41
16	59	41
17	59	41
18	59	41
19	59	41
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	59	41
24	59	41
25	59	41
26	59	41
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	59	41
30	58	42
31	59	41

	Rain chance (%)
1	28
2	27
3	27
4	27
5	27
6	27
7	27
8	27
9	27
10	27
11	27
12	27
13	27
14	27
15	27
16	27
17	27
18	28
19	28
20	28
21	28
22	29
23	29
24	29
25	30
26	30
27	30
28	31
29	32
30	32
31	33

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	58	35	7
2	61	33	6
3	62	32	6
4	63	31	6
5	64	30	6
6	66	29	5
7	67	28	5
8	68	27	5
9	69	26	5
10	69	26	5
11	70	25	5
12	70	25	5
13	70	25	5
14	70	25	5
15	70	25	5
16	70	25	5
17	69	26	5
18	69	26	5
19	68	27	5
20	68	27	5
21	68	27	5
22	68	27	5
23	67	28	5
24	68	27	5
25	68	27	5
26	69	27	4
27	70	26	4
28	70	26	4
29	71	25	4
30	72	24	4
31	74	23	3