New Plymouth weather in February

In February, New Plymouth sees average daytime highs of 20°C and overnight lows near 17°C, with 103 mm of rain across 8.9 wet days and about 13.5 hours of daylight. It is the 1st-warmest and 12th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 20°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 36% of the time in February, and the air most often feels comfortable.

Daylight stretches from about 14 hours at the start of February to 13 hours by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, February is New Plymouth's 2nd-clearest and 12th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see New Plymouth's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 20°; 1st warmest
Overnight low: 17°; 12th coldest
Rainfall: 103 mm; 8.9 wet days
Daylight: 13 h 30 min; 6:53 AM – 8:24 PM
Cloud cover: 54%; 2nd clearest
Wind: 18 km/h; 12th windiest
Solar energy: 6.18 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.3; 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.

← January New Plymouth year-round climate March →Best places to visit in February

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

Temperature in February

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 20°C through the month.

A typical February day in New Plymouth reaches about 20°C in the afternoon and slips back to 17°C overnight — a 3°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 18°C and 21°C. Set against its neighbours, February runs about 1°C warmer than January and about 1°C warmer than March.

	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
Avg high (°C)	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
Avg low (°C)	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16

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

New Plymouth weather by month

How February compares with the rest of the year at a glance. February is the 1st-warmest and 12th-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 February

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 36% of the time in February.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 19% of February, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 44%.

	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
Clearer (%)	52	54	54	55	55	55	56	56	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	56	56	56	55	55	56	55	55
Cloudier (%)	48	46	46	45	45	45	44	44	44	44	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	44	44	44	45	45	44	45	45

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

Chance of precipitation in February

Any precipitation

New Plymouth gets around 103 mm of rain over 8.9 wet days in February, the driest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 32% and peaks near 34% 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
Rain chance (%)	31	31	31	31	31	32	32	32	33	33	33	33	33	34	34	34	34	33	33	32	32	31	31	31	31	30	30	30

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	31
4	31
5	31
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	33
10	33
11	33
12	33
13	33
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	34
18	33
19	33
20	32
21	32
22	31
23	31
24	31
25	31
26	30
27	30
28	30

Humidity in February

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, February lands in the comfortable band about 40% of days. Sticky, muggy-or-worse air turns up on roughly 6% of them.

	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
Dry (%)	26	26	25	25	24	24	24	23	23	23	22	22	21	21	21	21	22	23	23	24	25	26	27	29	30	31	32	34
Comfortable (%)	35	35	36	36	37	38	38	39	40	40	41	41	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	41	41	40	40	39	39	38	38
Humid (%)	31	31	31	30	30	30	30	29	29	29	29	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	29	29	29	29	28	28	28	27	26
Muggy (%)	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	26	35	31	9
2	26	35	31	9
3	25	36	31	9
4	25	36	30	9
5	24	37	30	8
6	24	38	30	8
7	24	38	30	8
8	23	39	29	8
9	23	40	29	8
10	23	40	29	8
11	22	41	29	7
12	22	41	30	7
13	21	42	30	7
14	21	42	30	7
15	21	42	30	6
16	21	42	30	6
17	22	42	30	6
18	23	42	30	6
19	23	42	30	5
20	24	42	29	5
21	25	41	29	4
22	26	41	29	4
23	27	40	29	4
24	29	40	28	3
25	30	39	28	3
26	31	39	28	3
27	32	38	27	2
28	34	38	26	2

Wind in February

Winds average 18 km/h in February, the calmest month.

Across February, daily wind ranges from about 17 km/h on the calmest days to 19 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
Wind speed (km/h)	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19
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

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

Sunrise & sunset in February

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 14 hours at the start of February to 13 hours by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 60 minutes over February. Sunrise moves from 6:37 AM to 7:07 AM, and sunset from 8:38 PM to 8:07 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
Daylight (h)	14.0	14.0	14.0	13.9	13.9	13.9	13.8	13.8	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.5	13.5	13.4	13.4	13.4	13.3	13.3	13.2	13.2	13.2	13.1	13.1	13.0	13.0
Sunrise (AM)	6:37	6:38	6:39	6:40	6:41	6:42	6:43	6:45	6:46	6:47	6:48	6:49	6:50	6:51	6:53	6:54	6:55	6:56	6:57	6:58	6:59	7:00	7:02	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:06	7:07
Sunset (PM)	8:38	8:37	8:36	8:35	8:34	8:33	8:32	8:31	8:30	8:29	8:28	8:27	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

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	14.0	6:37	8:38
2	14.0	6:38	8:37
3	14.0	6:39	8:36
4	13.9	6:40	8:35
5	13.9	6:41	8:34
6	13.9	6:42	8:33
7	13.8	6:43	8:32
8	13.8	6:45	8:31
9	13.7	6:46	8:30
10	13.7	6:47	8:29
11	13.7	6:48	8:28
12	13.6	6:49	8:27
13	13.6	6:50	8:26
14	13.6	6:51	8:25
15	13.5	6:53	8:24
16	13.5	6:54	8:23
17	13.4	6:55	8:22
18	13.4	6:56	8:20
19	13.4	6:57	8:19
20	13.3	6:58	8:18
21	13.3	6:59	8:17
22	13.2	7:00	8:15
23	13.2	7:02	8:14
24	13.2	7:03	8:13
25	13.1	7:04	8:11
26	13.1	7:05	8:10
27	13.0	7:06	8:08
28	13.0	7:07	8:07

Solar energy in February

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in February, about 6.18 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 — February's 6.18 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
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.6
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	6.6	Intense
2	6.6	Intense
3	6.6	Intense
4	6.5	Intense
5	6.5	Intense
6	6.5	Intense
7	6.5	Intense
8	6.4	Intense
9	6.4	Intense
10	6.4	Intense
11	6.3	Intense
12	6.3	Intense
13	6.3	Intense
14	6.2	Intense
15	6.2	Intense
16	6.1	Intense
17	6.1	Intense
18	6.0	Intense
19	6.0	Intense
20	6.0	Bright
21	5.9	Bright
22	5.9	Bright
23	5.8	Bright
24	5.8	Bright
25	5.8	Bright
26	5.7	Bright
27	5.7	Bright
28	5.6	Bright

Planning a trip in February

Is February a good time to visit New Plymouth?

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

6.3

Sightseeing

1st-best month of the year

3.1

Beach & pool

1st-best month of the year

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

What to pack for New Plymouth in February

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

In February, New Plymouth sees daytime highs around 20°C and nights near 17°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

sun protectionrain gear

Sea temperature near New Plymouth in February

The nearest coast averages about 20°C in February — 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 February

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in February peaks around 11 (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

← January New Plymouth year-round climate March →Best places to visit in February

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

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	31
4	31
5	31
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	33
10	33
11	33
12	33
13	33
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	34
18	33
19	33
20	32
21	32
22	31
23	31
24	31
25	31
26	30
27	30
28	30

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	26	35	31	9
2	26	35	31	9
3	25	36	31	9
4	25	36	30	9
5	24	37	30	8
6	24	38	30	8
7	24	38	30	8
8	23	39	29	8
9	23	40	29	8
10	23	40	29	8
11	22	41	29	7
12	22	41	30	7
13	21	42	30	7
14	21	42	30	7
15	21	42	30	6
16	21	42	30	6
17	22	42	30	6
18	23	42	30	6
19	23	42	30	5
20	24	42	29	5
21	25	41	29	4
22	26	41	29	4
23	27	40	29	4
24	29	40	28	3
25	30	39	28	3
26	31	39	28	3
27	32	38	27	2
28	34	38	26	2

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

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	31
4	31
5	31
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	33
10	33
11	33
12	33
13	33
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	34
18	33
19	33
20	32
21	32
22	31
23	31
24	31
25	31
26	30
27	30
28	30

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	26	35	31	9
2	26	35	31	9
3	25	36	31	9
4	25	36	30	9
5	24	37	30	8
6	24	38	30	8
7	24	38	30	8
8	23	39	29	8
9	23	40	29	8
10	23	40	29	8
11	22	41	29	7
12	22	41	30	7
13	21	42	30	7
14	21	42	30	7
15	21	42	30	6
16	21	42	30	6
17	22	42	30	6
18	23	42	30	6
19	23	42	30	5
20	24	42	29	5
21	25	41	29	4
22	26	41	29	4
23	27	40	29	4
24	29	40	28	3
25	30	39	28	3
26	31	39	28	3
27	32	38	27	2
28	34	38	26	2

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

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	31
4	31
5	31
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	33
10	33
11	33
12	33
13	33
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	34
18	33
19	33
20	32
21	32
22	31
23	31
24	31
25	31
26	30
27	30
28	30

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	26	35	31	9
2	26	35	31	9
3	25	36	31	9
4	25	36	30	9
5	24	37	30	8
6	24	38	30	8
7	24	38	30	8
8	23	39	29	8
9	23	40	29	8
10	23	40	29	8
11	22	41	29	7
12	22	41	30	7
13	21	42	30	7
14	21	42	30	7
15	21	42	30	6
16	21	42	30	6
17	22	42	30	6
18	23	42	30	6
19	23	42	30	5
20	24	42	29	5
21	25	41	29	4
22	26	41	29	4
23	27	40	29	4
24	29	40	28	3
25	30	39	28	3
26	31	39	28	3
27	32	38	27	2
28	34	38	26	2