New Plymouth weather in August

In August, New Plymouth sees average daytime highs of 12°C and overnight lows near 10°C, with 177 mm of rain across 16.2 wet days and about 10.5 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 4th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 12°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 29% of the time in August, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 54 min at the start of August to 11 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, August is New Plymouth's 5th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see New Plymouth's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 12°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 10°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 177 mm; 16.2 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 30 min; 8:14 AM – 6:42 PM
Cloud cover: 59%; 5th clearest
Wind: 22 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 2.9 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.0; out of 10

New Plymouth is city of New Zealand in Taranaki Region.

Density: 39/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1841

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

← July New Plymouth year-round climate September →Best places to visit in August

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

Temperature in August

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 12°C through the month.

A typical August day in New Plymouth reaches about 12°C in the afternoon and slips back to 10°C overnight — a 2°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 11°C and 14°C. Set against its neighbours, August runs on par with July and on par with September.

	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	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Avg low (°C)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

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

New Plymouth weather by month

How August compares with the rest of the year at a glance. August is the 12th-warmest and 4th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	19° / 16°	105	10.1	14.4	6.1
Feb	20° / 17°	103	8.9	13.5	6.3
Mar	19° / 16°	109	10.6	12.3	6.1
Apr	17° / 14°	154	12.5	11	5.2
May	15° / 13°	183	14.1	9.9	4.3
Jun	13° / 11°	185	14.6	9.3	3.4
Jul	13° / 10°	189	16.2	9.5	3.0
Aug	12° / 10°	177	16.2	10.5	3.0
Sep	13° / 11°	173	15.6	11.7	3.2
Oct	14° / 12°	171	14.9	13	3.7
Nov	15° / 13°	134	12.3	14.1	4.5
Dec	17° / 15°	160	13.3	14.7	5.2

Cloud cover in August

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 29% of the time in August.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 23% of August, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 48%.

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

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

Chance of precipitation in August

Any precipitation

New Plymouth gets around 177 mm of rain over 16.2 wet days in August. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 52% and peaks near 56% on the wettest days. The odds ease toward the end of the month.

	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 (%)	53	54	54	54	55	55	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	55	55	55	54	54	53	52	51	50	49	48	47	47	46	46	46	46	46

	Rain chance (%)
1	53
2	54
3	54
4	54
5	55
6	55
7	56
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	56
12	56
13	56
14	55
15	55
16	55
17	54
18	54
19	53
20	52
21	51
22	50
23	49
24	48
25	47
26	47
27	46
28	46
29	46
30	46
31	46

Humidity in August

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, August 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 August

Winds average 22 km/h in August.

Across August, daily wind ranges from about 22 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	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22
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	23	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	22	breezy
21	22	breezy
22	22	breezy
23	22	breezy
24	22	breezy
25	22	breezy
26	22	breezy
27	22	breezy
28	22	breezy
29	22	breezy
30	22	breezy
31	22	breezy

Sunrise & sunset in August

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 54 min at the start of August to 11 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 72 minutes over August. Sunrise moves from 8:32 AM to 7:52 AM, and sunset from 6:28 PM to 6:56 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)	9.9	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.4	10.4	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.6	10.6	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.8	10.8	10.9	10.9	10.9	11.0	11.0	11.1
Sunrise (AM)	8:32	8:31	8:30	8:29	8:28	8:26	8:25	8:24	8:23	8:22	8:20	8:19	8:18	8:17	8:15	8:14	8:13	8:11	8:10	8:08	8:07	8:06	8:04	8:03	8:01	8:00	7:58	7:57	7:55	7:53	7:52
Sunset (PM)	6:28	6:29	6:30	6:30	6:31	6:32	6:33	6:34	6:35	6:36	6:37	6:38	6:39	6:40	6:41	6:42	6:42	6:43	6:44	6:45	6:46	6:47	6:48	6:49	6:50	6:51	6:52	6:53	6:54	6:55	6:56

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.9	8:32	6:28
2	10.0	8:31	6:29
3	10.0	8:30	6:30
4	10.0	8:29	6:30
5	10.1	8:28	6:31
6	10.1	8:26	6:32
7	10.1	8:25	6:33
8	10.2	8:24	6:34
9	10.2	8:23	6:35
10	10.2	8:22	6:36
11	10.3	8:20	6:37
12	10.3	8:19	6:38
13	10.3	8:18	6:39
14	10.4	8:17	6:40
15	10.4	8:15	6:41
16	10.5	8:14	6:42
17	10.5	8:13	6:42
18	10.5	8:11	6:43
19	10.6	8:10	6:44
20	10.6	8:08	6:45
21	10.7	8:07	6:46
22	10.7	8:06	6:47
23	10.7	8:04	6:48
24	10.8	8:03	6:49
25	10.8	8:01	6:50
26	10.9	8:00	6:51
27	10.9	7:58	6:52
28	10.9	7:57	6:53
29	11.0	7:55	6:54
30	11.0	7:53	6:55
31	11.1	7:52	6:56

Solar energy in August

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in August, about 2.9 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.8 kWh/m² to a high of 7.39 kWh/m² in January across the year — August's 2.9 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)	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.8	2.8	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.5
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.4	Moderate
2	2.4	Moderate
3	2.4	Moderate
4	2.4	Moderate
5	2.5	Moderate
6	2.5	Moderate
7	2.5	Moderate
8	2.6	Moderate
9	2.6	Moderate
10	2.6	Moderate
11	2.7	Moderate
12	2.7	Moderate
13	2.8	Moderate
14	2.8	Moderate
15	2.9	Moderate
16	2.9	Moderate
17	2.9	Moderate
18	3.0	Moderate
19	3.0	Moderate
20	3.0	Moderate
21	3.1	Moderate
22	3.1	Moderate
23	3.2	Moderate
24	3.2	Moderate
25	3.2	Moderate
26	3.3	Moderate
27	3.3	Moderate
28	3.4	Moderate
29	3.4	Moderate
30	3.4	Moderate
31	3.5	Moderate

Planning a trip in August

Is August a good time to visit New Plymouth?

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

3.0

Sightseeing

11th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

10th-best month of the year

August is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in New Plymouth.

What to pack for New Plymouth in August

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

In August, New Plymouth sees daytime highs around 12°C and nights near 10°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: a warm layer and a windbreaker. About 16 days see rain.

rain geara warm layera windbreaker

Sea temperature near New Plymouth in August

The nearest coast averages about 14°C in August — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 19 km away) is warmest in February at about 20°C and coldest in August near 14°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	17	15	14	14	14	14	16	17
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	19	Cool
Feb	20	Cool
Mar	19	Cool
Apr	18	Cool
May	17	Cool
Jun	15	Cool
Jul	14	Bracing
Aug	14	Bracing
Sep	14	Bracing
Oct	14	Bracing
Nov	16	Cool
Dec	17	Cool

UV index in New Plymouth in August

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in August peaks around 3 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in New Plymouth peaks around January 12 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	10	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	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	10	Very high
Dec	12	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is New Plymouth?

New Plymouth sits at 39.1°S, 174.1°E, 64 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Whanganui, 127 km away.

Topography around New Plymouth

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around New Plymouth has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 106 m around an average of 43 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 665 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,459 m.

The land around New Plymouth is covered by trees (33%), artificial surfaces (29%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, water (43%) and grassland (38%) within 16 km, and water (45%), trees (28%) and grassland (26%) within 80 km.

3 km

106 m

trees 33%

16 km

665 m

water 43%

80 km

2,459 m

water 45%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← July New Plymouth year-round climate September →Best places to visit in August

August weather nearby: Whanganui 127 km · Hamilton East 177 km · Hamilton 177 km · Cambridge 177 km · Taupo 178 km · Palmerston North 194 km · Levin 202 km · Rotorua 214 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 New Plymouth (-39.0667°, 174.0833°, elevation 64 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	10
2	13	10
3	13	10
4	13	10
5	13	10
6	12	10
7	12	10
8	12	10
9	12	10
10	12	10
11	12	10
12	12	10
13	12	10
14	12	10
15	12	10
16	12	10
17	12	10
18	12	10
19	12	10
20	12	10
21	12	10
22	12	10
23	12	10
24	12	10
25	13	10
26	13	10
27	13	10
28	13	10
29	13	10
30	13	10
31	13	10

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	53
2	54
3	54
4	54
5	55
6	55
7	56
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	56
12	56
13	56
14	55
15	55
16	55
17	54
18	54
19	53
20	52
21	51
22	50
23	49
24	48
25	47
26	47
27	46
28	46
29	46
30	46
31	46

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

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	53
2	54
3	54
4	54
5	55
6	55
7	56
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	56
12	56
13	56
14	55
15	55
16	55
17	54
18	54
19	53
20	52
21	51
22	50
23	49
24	48
25	47
26	47
27	46
28	46
29	46
30	46
31	46

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

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	53
2	54
3	54
4	54
5	55
6	55
7	56
8	56
9	56
10	56
11	56
12	56
13	56
14	55
15	55
16	55
17	54
18	54
19	53
20	52
21	51
22	50
23	49
24	48
25	47
26	47
27	46
28	46
29	46
30	46
31	46

	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