New Plymouth weather in December

In December, New Plymouth sees average daytime highs of 17°C and overnight lows near 15°C, with 160 mm of rain across 13.3 wet days and about 14.7 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 7th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 17°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 27% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 14 h 30 min at the start of December to 14 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is New Plymouth's 12th-clearest and 8th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see New Plymouth's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 17°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 15°; 9th coldest
Rainfall: 160 mm; 13.3 wet days
Daylight: 14 h 42 min; 5:58 AM – 8:42 PM
Cloud cover: 63%; 12th clearest
Wind: 20 km/h; 8th windiest
Solar energy: 6.92 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.2; 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.

← November New Plymouth 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

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 17°C through the month.

A typical December day in New Plymouth reaches about 17°C in the afternoon and slips back to 15°C overnight — a 3°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 15°C and 19°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)	16	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
Avg low (°C)	14	14	14	14	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	15

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

New Plymouth weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 4th-warmest and 7th-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 December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 27% of the time in December, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 18% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 55%.

	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 (%)	45	45	44	44	44	44	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	44	44	44	44	45	45	45	45	46	46	47	48	48	49	49	50
Cloudier (%)	55	55	56	56	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	56	56	56	56	55	55	55	55	54	54	53	52	52	51	51	50

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	44	56
6	44	56
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	44	56
17	44	56
18	44	56
19	44	56
20	45	55
21	45	55
22	45	55
23	45	55
24	46	54
25	46	54
26	47	53
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	50	50

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

New Plymouth gets around 160 mm of rain over 13.3 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 42% and peaks near 43% 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 (%)	42	42	42	42	43	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	41	41	40	39	38	38

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	42
4	42
5	43
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	42
10	42
11	42
12	42
13	42
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	42
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	42
23	42
24	42
25	42
26	41
27	41
28	40
29	39
30	38
31	38

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 52% 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 (%)	62	61	59	58	56	56	55	54	54	54	54	54	53	53	54	53	53	52	52	51	50	50	49	48	47	47	46	45	45	44	43
Comfortable (%)	31	32	33	33	34	34	34	34	34	33	33	32	32	32	31	31	31	31	31	32	32	32	33	33	34	34	35	35	36	36	37
Humid (%)	7	7	8	9	10	10	11	12	12	13	13	14	15	15	15	16	16	17	17	17	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	62	31	7
2	61	32	7
3	59	33	8
4	58	33	9
5	56	34	10
6	56	34	10
7	55	34	11
8	54	34	12
9	54	34	12
10	54	33	13
11	54	33	13
12	54	32	14
13	53	32	15
14	53	32	15
15	54	31	15
16	53	31	16
17	53	31	16
18	52	31	17
19	52	31	17
20	51	32	17
21	50	32	18
22	50	32	18
23	49	33	18
24	48	33	19
25	47	34	19
26	47	34	19
27	46	35	19
28	45	35	19
29	45	36	19
30	44	36	20
31	43	37	20

Wind in December

Winds average 20 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 19 km/h on the calmest days to 21 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)	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19
Feels	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	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	21	breezy
2	20	breezy
3	20	breezy
4	20	breezy
5	20	breezy
6	20	breezy
7	20	breezy
8	20	breezy
9	20	light breeze
10	20	light breeze
11	20	light breeze
12	20	light breeze
13	20	light breeze
14	20	light breeze
15	20	light breeze
16	20	light breeze
17	20	light breeze
18	20	light breeze
19	20	light breeze
20	20	light breeze
21	20	light breeze
22	20	light breeze
23	20	light breeze
24	20	light breeze
25	20	light breeze
26	20	light breeze
27	19	light breeze
28	19	light breeze
29	19	light breeze
30	19	light breeze
31	19	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 14 h 30 min at the start of December to 14 h 42 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 5:57 AM to 6:06 AM, and sunset from 8:30 PM to 8:48 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)	14.5	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7
Sunrise (AM)	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:58	5:58	5:58	5:59	5:59	5:59	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:02	6:02	6:03	6:04	6:04	6:05	6:06
Sunset (PM)	8:30	8:31	8:32	8:32	8:33	8:34	8:35	8:36	8:37	8:37	8:38	8:39	8:40	8:40	8:41	8:42	8:42	8:43	8:44	8:44	8:45	8:45	8:46	8:46	8:46	8:47	8:47	8:47	8:48	8:48	8:48

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	14.5	5:57	8:30
2	14.6	5:57	8:31
3	14.6	5:57	8:32
4	14.6	5:57	8:32
5	14.6	5:57	8:33
6	14.6	5:57	8:34
7	14.6	5:57	8:35
8	14.7	5:57	8:36
9	14.7	5:57	8:37
10	14.7	5:57	8:37
11	14.7	5:57	8:38
12	14.7	5:57	8:39
13	14.7	5:57	8:40
14	14.7	5:57	8:40
15	14.7	5:58	8:41
16	14.7	5:58	8:42
17	14.7	5:58	8:42
18	14.7	5:59	8:43
19	14.7	5:59	8:44
20	14.7	5:59	8:44
21	14.7	6:00	8:45
22	14.7	6:00	8:45
23	14.7	6:01	8:46
24	14.7	6:01	8:46
25	14.7	6:02	8:46
26	14.7	6:02	8:47
27	14.7	6:03	8:47
28	14.7	6:04	8:47
29	14.7	6:04	8:48
30	14.7	6:05	8:48
31	14.7	6:06	8:48

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 6.92 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 — December's 6.92 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)	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.9	6.9	6.9	6.9	6.9	6.9	6.9	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.1	7.1	7.2	7.2	7.3	7.4	7.4	7.5	7.5	7.6	7.7	7.7
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	6.8	Intense
2	6.8	Intense
3	6.8	Intense
4	6.8	Intense
5	6.8	Intense
6	6.8	Intense
7	6.8	Intense
8	6.9	Intense
9	6.9	Intense
10	6.9	Intense
11	6.9	Intense
12	6.9	Intense
13	6.9	Intense
14	6.9	Intense
15	7.0	Intense
16	7.0	Intense
17	7.0	Intense
18	7.0	Intense
19	7.0	Intense
20	7.1	Intense
21	7.1	Intense
22	7.2	Intense
23	7.2	Intense
24	7.3	Intense
25	7.4	Intense
26	7.4	Intense
27	7.5	Intense
28	7.5	Intense
29	7.6	Intense
30	7.7	Intense
31	7.7	Intense

Planning a trip in December

Is December a good time to visit New Plymouth?

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

5.2

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

1.4

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

December is a reasonable time to visit New Plymouth for sightseeing.

What to pack for New Plymouth in December

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

In December, New Plymouth sees daytime highs around 17°C and nights near 15°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 13 days see rain.

sun protectionrain gear

Sea temperature near New Plymouth 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 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 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 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

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	44	56
6	44	56
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	44	56
17	44	56
18	44	56
19	44	56
20	45	55
21	45	55
22	45	55
23	45	55
24	46	54
25	46	54
26	47	53
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	50	50

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	42
4	42
5	43
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	42
10	42
11	42
12	42
13	42
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	42
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	42
23	42
24	42
25	42
26	41
27	41
28	40
29	39
30	38
31	38

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	62	31	7
2	61	32	7
3	59	33	8
4	58	33	9
5	56	34	10
6	56	34	10
7	55	34	11
8	54	34	12
9	54	34	12
10	54	33	13
11	54	33	13
12	54	32	14
13	53	32	15
14	53	32	15
15	54	31	15
16	53	31	16
17	53	31	16
18	52	31	17
19	52	31	17
20	51	32	17
21	50	32	18
22	50	32	18
23	49	33	18
24	48	33	19
25	47	34	19
26	47	34	19
27	46	35	19
28	45	35	19
29	45	36	19
30	44	36	20
31	43	37	20

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	44	56
6	44	56
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	44	56
17	44	56
18	44	56
19	44	56
20	45	55
21	45	55
22	45	55
23	45	55
24	46	54
25	46	54
26	47	53
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	50	50

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	42
4	42
5	43
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	42
10	42
11	42
12	42
13	42
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	42
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	42
23	42
24	42
25	42
26	41
27	41
28	40
29	39
30	38
31	38

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	62	31	7
2	61	32	7
3	59	33	8
4	58	33	9
5	56	34	10
6	56	34	10
7	55	34	11
8	54	34	12
9	54	34	12
10	54	33	13
11	54	33	13
12	54	32	14
13	53	32	15
14	53	32	15
15	54	31	15
16	53	31	16
17	53	31	16
18	52	31	17
19	52	31	17
20	51	32	17
21	50	32	18
22	50	32	18
23	49	33	18
24	48	33	19
25	47	34	19
26	47	34	19
27	46	35	19
28	45	35	19
29	45	36	19
30	44	36	20
31	43	37	20

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	45	55
2	45	55
3	44	56
4	44	56
5	44	56
6	44	56
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	44	56
17	44	56
18	44	56
19	44	56
20	45	55
21	45	55
22	45	55
23	45	55
24	46	54
25	46	54
26	47	53
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	50	50

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	42
4	42
5	43
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	42
10	42
11	42
12	42
13	42
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	42
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	42
23	42
24	42
25	42
26	41
27	41
28	40
29	39
30	38
31	38

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	62	31	7
2	61	32	7
3	59	33	8
4	58	33	9
5	56	34	10
6	56	34	10
7	55	34	11
8	54	34	12
9	54	34	12
10	54	33	13
11	54	33	13
12	54	32	14
13	53	32	15
14	53	32	15
15	54	31	15
16	53	31	16
17	53	31	16
18	52	31	17
19	52	31	17
20	51	32	17
21	50	32	18
22	50	32	18
23	49	33	18
24	48	33	19
25	47	34	19
26	47	34	19
27	46	35	19
28	45	35	19
29	45	36	19
30	44	36	20
31	43	37	20