Rotorua weather in August

In August, Rotorua sees average daytime highs of 12°C and overnight lows near 5°C, with 113 mm of rain across 13.2 wet days and about 10.5 hours of daylight. It is the 10th-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 21% of the time in August, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 hours at the start of August to 11 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, August is Rotorua's 8th-clearest and 7th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Rotorua's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 12°; 10th warmest
Overnight low: 5°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 113 mm; 13.2 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 30 min; 8:04 AM – 6:34 PM
Cloud cover: 65%; 8th clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 7th windiest
Solar energy: 2.66 kWh/m²
Travel score: 2.8; out of 10

Rotorua is city in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Air quality: Good; PM10 18.2 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 25/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1883

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

← July Rotorua 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 Rotorua reaches about 12°C in the afternoon and slips back to 5°C overnight — a 7°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 10°C and 14°C. Set against its neighbours, August runs about 1°C warmer than July and about 2°C cooler than 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)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Avg low (°C)	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5

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

Rotorua weather by month

How August compares with the rest of the year at a glance. August is the 10th-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	22° / 13°	84	10.2	14.3	6.5
Feb	22° / 13°	81	8.9	13.5	6.6
Mar	20° / 11°	85	9.6	12.3	6.3
Apr	17° / 9°	100	9.5	11	5.5
May	14° / 7°	101	10.3	10	4.1
Jun	12° / 5°	109	10.9	9.4	2.9
Jul	11° / 4°	118	12.3	9.6	2.5
Aug	12° / 5°	113	13.2	10.5	2.8
Sep	14° / 6°	114	13	11.7	3.5
Oct	15° / 7°	103	12.7	13	4.4
Nov	18° / 9°	93	11.4	14.1	5.4
Dec	20° / 11°	113	13	14.6	5.7

Cloud cover in August

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% of the time in August.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 20% of August, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 59%.

	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 (%)	40	40	40	39	38	38	38	39	39	39	40	40	41	41	42	42	43	43	43	44	44	44	44	44	44	43	42	41	41	41	41
Cloudier (%)	60	60	60	61	62	62	62	61	61	61	60	60	59	59	58	58	57	57	57	56	56	56	56	56	56	57	58	59	59	59	59

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	40	60
2	40	60
3	40	60
4	39	61
5	38	62
6	38	62
7	38	62
8	39	61
9	39	61
10	39	61
11	40	60
12	40	60
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	43	57
18	43	57
19	43	57
20	44	56
21	44	56
22	44	56
23	44	56
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

Chance of precipitation in August

Any precipitation

Rotorua gets around 113 mm of rain over 13.2 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 42% and peaks near 44% 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 (%)	40	41	41	42	43	43	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	43	43	43	43	42	42	42	41	41	40	40	40	39	39	39	39	39

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	41
3	41
4	42
5	43
6	43
7	44
8	44
9	44
10	44
11	44
12	44
13	44
14	44
15	43
16	43
17	43
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	41
23	41
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	39
28	39
29	39
30	39
31	39

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 11 km/h in August.

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

Sunrise & sunset in August

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 hours 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 66 minutes over August. Sunrise moves from 8:21 AM to 7:42 AM, and sunset from 6:21 PM to 6:48 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)	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	10.4	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	11.1
Sunrise (AM)	8:21	8:20	8:19	8:18	8:17	8:16	8:15	8:14	8:12	8:11	8:10	8:09	8:08	8:06	8:05	8:04	8:02	8:01	8:00	7:58	7:57	7:56	7:54	7:53	7:51	7:50	7:48	7:47	7:45	7:44	7:42
Sunset (PM)	6:21	6:22	6:23	6:24	6:25	6:25	6:26	6:27	6:28	6:29	6:30	6:31	6:32	6:33	6:34	6:34	6:35	6:36	6:37	6:38	6:39	6:40	6:41	6:42	6:43	6:43	6:44	6:45	6:46	6:47	6:48

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.0	8:21	6:21
2	10.0	8:20	6:22
3	10.1	8:19	6:23
4	10.1	8:18	6:24
5	10.1	8:17	6:25
6	10.2	8:16	6:25
7	10.2	8:15	6:26
8	10.2	8:14	6:27
9	10.3	8:12	6:28
10	10.3	8:11	6:29
11	10.3	8:10	6:30
12	10.4	8:09	6:31
13	10.4	8:08	6:32
14	10.4	8:06	6:33
15	10.5	8:05	6:34
16	10.5	8:04	6:34
17	10.5	8:02	6:35
18	10.6	8:01	6:36
19	10.6	8:00	6:37
20	10.7	7:58	6:38
21	10.7	7:57	6:39
22	10.7	7:56	6:40
23	10.8	7:54	6:41
24	10.8	7:53	6:42
25	10.9	7:51	6:43
26	10.9	7:50	6:43
27	10.9	7:48	6:44
28	11.0	7:47	6:45
29	11.0	7:45	6:46
30	11.1	7:44	6:47
31	11.1	7:42	6:48

Solar energy in August

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in August, about 2.66 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.79 kWh/m² to a high of 6.59 kWh/m² in January across the year — August's 2.66 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)	2.2	2.2	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.1
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	2.2	Moderate
2	2.2	Moderate
3	2.3	Moderate
4	2.3	Moderate
5	2.3	Moderate
6	2.3	Moderate
7	2.4	Moderate
8	2.4	Moderate
9	2.4	Moderate
10	2.5	Moderate
11	2.5	Moderate
12	2.5	Moderate
13	2.5	Moderate
14	2.6	Moderate
15	2.6	Moderate
16	2.7	Moderate
17	2.7	Moderate
18	2.7	Moderate
19	2.8	Moderate
20	2.8	Moderate
21	2.8	Moderate
22	2.9	Moderate
23	2.9	Moderate
24	2.9	Moderate
25	3.0	Moderate
26	3.0	Moderate
27	3.0	Moderate
28	3.0	Moderate
29	3.1	Moderate
30	3.1	Moderate
31	3.1	Moderate

Planning a trip in August

Is August a good time to visit Rotorua?

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

2.8

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 Rotorua.

What to pack for Rotorua in August

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

In August, Rotorua sees daytime highs around 12°C and nights near 5°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: rain gear. About 13 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

Sea temperature near Rotorua 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 44 km away) is warmest in February at about 21°C and coldest in August near 14°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jan 22 to Mar 25 — about 2.1 months when the water holds above 20°C.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	20	21	20	19	18	16	15	14	14	15	16	18
Comfort	Cool	Refreshing	Refreshing	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Cool	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	20	Cool
Feb	21	Refreshing
Mar	20	Refreshing
Apr	19	Cool
May	18	Cool
Jun	16	Cool
Jul	15	Bracing
Aug	14	Bracing
Sep	14	Bracing
Oct	15	Cool
Nov	16	Cool
Dec	18	Cool

UV index in Rotorua 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 Rotorua peaks around December 22 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 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	8	5	3	2	2	3	5	7	11	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Very high	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	12	Extreme
Feb	11	Extreme
Mar	8	Very high
Apr	5	High
May	3	Moderate
Jun	2	Low
Jul	2	Moderate
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	5	Moderate
Oct	7	Very high
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	12	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Rotorua?

Rotorua sits at 38.1°S, 176.2°E, 287 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Tauranga, 51 km away.

Topography around Rotorua

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Rotorua has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 84 m around an average of 292 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 572 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,180 m.

The land around Rotorua is covered by artificial surfaces (36%), trees (22%) and water (22%) within 3 km, trees (46%) and grassland (37%) within 16 km, and trees (44%) and grassland (36%) within 80 km.

3 km

84 m

artificial surfaces 36%

16 km

572 m

trees 46%

80 km

1,180 m

trees 44%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

August weather nearby: Tauranga 51 km · Taupo 62 km · Whakatane 68 km · Cambridge 76 km · Hamilton East 92 km · Hamilton 93 km · Pukekohe East 155 km · Napier 161 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 Rotorua (-38.1387°, 176.2452°, elevation 287 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	11	4
2	11	5
3	11	5
4	11	5
5	11	5
6	11	5
7	11	5
8	11	5
9	11	5
10	12	5
11	12	5
12	12	5
13	12	4
14	12	4
15	12	4
16	12	4
17	12	4
18	12	4
19	12	4
20	12	4
21	12	4
22	12	4
23	12	5
24	12	5
25	12	5
26	12	5
27	12	5
28	12	5
29	12	5
30	12	5
31	12	5

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	40	60
2	40	60
3	40	60
4	39	61
5	38	62
6	38	62
7	38	62
8	39	61
9	39	61
10	39	61
11	40	60
12	40	60
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	43	57
18	43	57
19	43	57
20	44	56
21	44	56
22	44	56
23	44	56
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	41
3	41
4	42
5	43
6	43
7	44
8	44
9	44
10	44
11	44
12	44
13	44
14	44
15	43
16	43
17	43
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	41
23	41
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	39
28	39
29	39
30	39
31	39

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	40	60
2	40	60
3	40	60
4	39	61
5	38	62
6	38	62
7	38	62
8	39	61
9	39	61
10	39	61
11	40	60
12	40	60
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	43	57
18	43	57
19	43	57
20	44	56
21	44	56
22	44	56
23	44	56
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	41
3	41
4	42
5	43
6	43
7	44
8	44
9	44
10	44
11	44
12	44
13	44
14	44
15	43
16	43
17	43
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	41
23	41
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	39
28	39
29	39
30	39
31	39

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	40	60
2	40	60
3	40	60
4	39	61
5	38	62
6	38	62
7	38	62
8	39	61
9	39	61
10	39	61
11	40	60
12	40	60
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	42	58
16	42	58
17	43	57
18	43	57
19	43	57
20	44	56
21	44	56
22	44	56
23	44	56
24	44	56
25	44	56
26	43	57
27	42	58
28	41	59
29	41	59
30	41	59
31	41	59

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	41
3	41
4	42
5	43
6	43
7	44
8	44
9	44
10	44
11	44
12	44
13	44
14	44
15	43
16	43
17	43
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	42
22	41
23	41
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	39
28	39
29	39
30	39
31	39

	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