Taupo weather in December

In December, Taupo sees average daytime highs of 19°C and overnight lows near 10°C, with 118 mm of rain across 13.8 wet days and about 14.7 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 4th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 18°C in the first days to 20°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 16% 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 Taupo's 12th-clearest and 6th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Taupo's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 19°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 10°; 10th coldest
Rainfall: 118 mm; 13.8 wet days
Daylight: 14 h 42 min; 5:51 AM – 8:33 PM
Cloud cover: 70%; 12th clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 6th windiest
Solar energy: 5.92 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.5; out of 10

Taupo is town in New Zealand's North Island.

Air quality: Excellent; PM10 12.9 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 629/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1869

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

← November Taupo 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

Highs climb over the month, from about 18°C in the first days to 20°C by the end.

A typical December day in Taupo reaches about 19°C in the afternoon and slips back to 10°C overnight — a 8°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 15°C and 22°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)	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	20	20
Avg low (°C)	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11

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

Taupo weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 4th-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	21° / 12°	89	9.9	14.4	6.3
Feb	21° / 12°	83	9	13.5	6.4
Mar	19° / 10°	85	9.3	12.3	6.2
Apr	16° / 8°	103	10.5	11	4.9
May	13° / 6°	109	11.2	9.9	3.6
Jun	11° / 5°	115	11.6	9.3	2.4
Jul	10° / 4°	124	12.9	9.6	2.1
Aug	11° / 4°	120	14	10.5	2.3
Sep	12° / 5°	123	13.8	11.7	3.0
Oct	14° / 7°	118	13.9	13	3.8
Nov	17° / 8°	108	12.5	14.1	4.8
Dec	19° / 10°	118	13.8	14.7	5.5

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 16% of the time in December, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 17% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 68%.

	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 (%)	33	32	32	32	32	32	33	32	32	32	33	33	33	33	33	33	32	32	32	32	32	31	31	31	31	33	33	34	35	36	36
Cloudier (%)	67	68	68	68	68	68	67	68	68	68	67	67	67	67	67	67	68	68	68	68	68	69	69	69	69	67	67	66	65	64	64

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	33	67
8	32	68
9	32	68
10	32	68
11	33	67
12	33	67
13	33	67
14	33	67
15	33	67
16	33	67
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	32	68
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	31	69
23	31	69
24	31	69
25	31	69
26	33	67
27	33	67
28	34	66
29	35	65
30	36	64
31	36	64

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Taupo gets around 118 mm of rain over 13.8 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 44% and peaks near 45% 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 (%)	44	44	44	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	44	44	44	44	44	44	43	43	43	42	42	41	40	40	39

	Rain chance (%)
1	44
2	44
3	44
4	45
5	45
6	45
7	45
8	45
9	45
10	45
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	45
17	44
18	44
19	44
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	42
27	42
28	41
29	40
30	40
31	39

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 76% 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 (%)	84	83	82	81	80	80	78	78	77	77	77	76	76	75	75	75	75	75	74	74	74	74	73	73	73	73	72	72	72	71	71
Comfortable (%)	15	16	17	18	19	19	20	20	21	21	21	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	25	25
Humid (%)	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	84	15	1
2	83	16	1
3	82	17	1
4	81	18	1
5	80	19	1
6	80	19	1
7	78	20	2
8	78	20	2
9	77	21	2
10	77	21	2
11	77	21	2
12	76	22	2
13	76	22	2
14	75	22	3
15	75	22	3
16	75	22	3
17	75	22	3
18	75	22	3
19	74	23	3
20	74	23	3
21	74	23	3
22	74	23	3
23	73	23	4
24	73	23	4
25	73	23	4
26	73	23	4
27	72	24	4
28	72	24	4
29	72	24	4
30	71	25	4
31	71	25	4

Wind in December

Winds average 11 km/h in December.

Across December, 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)	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	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	12	calm
2	12	calm
3	12	calm
4	12	calm
5	12	calm
6	12	calm
7	11	calm
8	11	calm
9	11	calm
10	11	calm
11	11	calm
12	11	calm
13	11	calm
14	11	calm
15	11	calm
16	11	calm
17	11	calm
18	11	calm
19	11	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 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 5:50 AM to 5:59 AM, and sunset from 8:21 PM to 8:39 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	14.5	14.5	14.6	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
Sunrise (AM)	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:50	5:51	5:51	5:51	5:51	5:52	5:52	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:54	5:54	5:55	5:55	5:56	5:57	5:57	5:58	5:59
Sunset (PM)	8:21	8:22	8:22	8:23	8:24	8:25	8:26	8:27	8:28	8:28	8:29	8:30	8:31	8:31	8:32	8:33	8:33	8:34	8:34	8:35	8:35	8:36	8:36	8:37	8:37	8:38	8:38	8:38	8:38	8:39	8:39

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	14.5	5:50	8:21
2	14.5	5:50	8:22
3	14.5	5:50	8:22
4	14.6	5:50	8:23
5	14.6	5:50	8:24
6	14.6	5:50	8:25
7	14.6	5:50	8:26
8	14.6	5:50	8:27
9	14.6	5:50	8:28
10	14.6	5:50	8:28
11	14.7	5:50	8:29
12	14.7	5:50	8:30
13	14.7	5:50	8:31
14	14.7	5:51	8:31
15	14.7	5:51	8:32
16	14.7	5:51	8:33
17	14.7	5:51	8:33
18	14.7	5:52	8:34
19	14.7	5:52	8:34
20	14.7	5:53	8:35
21	14.7	5:53	8:35
22	14.7	5:53	8:36
23	14.7	5:54	8:36
24	14.7	5:54	8:37
25	14.7	5:55	8:37
26	14.7	5:55	8:38
27	14.7	5:56	8:38
28	14.7	5:57	8:38
29	14.7	5:57	8:38
30	14.7	5:58	8:39
31	14.7	5:59	8:39

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 5.92 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.64 kWh/m² to a high of 6.48 kWh/m² in January across the year — December's 5.92 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)	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.7
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.8	Bright
2	5.8	Bright
3	5.8	Bright
4	5.8	Bright
5	5.9	Bright
6	5.9	Bright
7	5.9	Bright
8	5.9	Bright
9	5.9	Bright
10	5.9	Bright
11	5.9	Bright
12	5.9	Bright
13	6.0	Bright
14	6.0	Bright
15	6.0	Bright
16	6.0	Intense
17	6.0	Intense
18	6.0	Intense
19	6.1	Intense
20	6.1	Intense
21	6.1	Intense
22	6.2	Intense
23	6.2	Intense
24	6.3	Intense
25	6.3	Intense
26	6.4	Intense
27	6.5	Intense
28	6.5	Intense
29	6.6	Intense
30	6.6	Intense
31	6.7	Intense

Planning a trip in December

Is December a good time to visit Taupo?

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

5.5

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

2.3

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

December is a reasonable time to visit Taupo for sightseeing.

What to pack for Taupo in December

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

In December, Taupo sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 10°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

rain gearsun protection

UV index in Taupo 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 Taupo peaks around December 23 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	7	5	3	2	2	3	5	7	11	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Extreme	Extreme

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

Location & terrain

Where is Taupo?

Taupo sits at 38.7°S, 176.1°E, 405 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Rotorua, 62 km away.

Topography around Taupo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Taupo has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 148 m around an average of 402 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 783 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,648 m.

The land around Taupo is covered by grassland (35%), artificial surfaces (25%) and trees (22%) within 3 km, grassland (50%) and trees (29%) within 16 km, and trees (60%) and grassland (35%) within 80 km.

3 km

148 m

grassland 35%

16 km

783 m

grassland 50%

80 km

2,648 m

trees 60%

treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

December weather nearby: Rotorua 62 km · Cambridge 106 km · Tauranga 111 km · Whakatane 113 km · Napier 115 km · Hamilton East 121 km · Hamilton 122 km · Hastings 125 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 Taupo (-38.6833°, 176.0833°, elevation 405 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. 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	18	9
2	18	9
3	18	10
4	18	10
5	18	10
6	18	10
7	18	10
8	18	10
9	19	10
10	19	10
11	19	10
12	19	10
13	19	10
14	19	10
15	19	10
16	19	10
17	19	11
18	19	11
19	19	11
20	19	11
21	19	11
22	19	11
23	19	11
24	19	11
25	19	11
26	19	11
27	19	11
28	20	11
29	20	11
30	20	11
31	20	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	33	67
8	32	68
9	32	68
10	32	68
11	33	67
12	33	67
13	33	67
14	33	67
15	33	67
16	33	67
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	32	68
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	31	69
23	31	69
24	31	69
25	31	69
26	33	67
27	33	67
28	34	66
29	35	65
30	36	64
31	36	64

	Rain chance (%)
1	44
2	44
3	44
4	45
5	45
6	45
7	45
8	45
9	45
10	45
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	45
17	44
18	44
19	44
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	42
27	42
28	41
29	40
30	40
31	39

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	84	15	1
2	83	16	1
3	82	17	1
4	81	18	1
5	80	19	1
6	80	19	1
7	78	20	2
8	78	20	2
9	77	21	2
10	77	21	2
11	77	21	2
12	76	22	2
13	76	22	2
14	75	22	3
15	75	22	3
16	75	22	3
17	75	22	3
18	75	22	3
19	74	23	3
20	74	23	3
21	74	23	3
22	74	23	3
23	73	23	4
24	73	23	4
25	73	23	4
26	73	23	4
27	72	24	4
28	72	24	4
29	72	24	4
30	71	25	4
31	71	25	4

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	33	67
8	32	68
9	32	68
10	32	68
11	33	67
12	33	67
13	33	67
14	33	67
15	33	67
16	33	67
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	32	68
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	31	69
23	31	69
24	31	69
25	31	69
26	33	67
27	33	67
28	34	66
29	35	65
30	36	64
31	36	64

	Rain chance (%)
1	44
2	44
3	44
4	45
5	45
6	45
7	45
8	45
9	45
10	45
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	45
17	44
18	44
19	44
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	42
27	42
28	41
29	40
30	40
31	39

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	84	15	1
2	83	16	1
3	82	17	1
4	81	18	1
5	80	19	1
6	80	19	1
7	78	20	2
8	78	20	2
9	77	21	2
10	77	21	2
11	77	21	2
12	76	22	2
13	76	22	2
14	75	22	3
15	75	22	3
16	75	22	3
17	75	22	3
18	75	22	3
19	74	23	3
20	74	23	3
21	74	23	3
22	74	23	3
23	73	23	4
24	73	23	4
25	73	23	4
26	73	23	4
27	72	24	4
28	72	24	4
29	72	24	4
30	71	25	4
31	71	25	4

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	32	68
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	33	67
8	32	68
9	32	68
10	32	68
11	33	67
12	33	67
13	33	67
14	33	67
15	33	67
16	33	67
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	32	68
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	31	69
23	31	69
24	31	69
25	31	69
26	33	67
27	33	67
28	34	66
29	35	65
30	36	64
31	36	64

	Rain chance (%)
1	44
2	44
3	44
4	45
5	45
6	45
7	45
8	45
9	45
10	45
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	45
17	44
18	44
19	44
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	42
27	42
28	41
29	40
30	40
31	39

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	84	15	1
2	83	16	1
3	82	17	1
4	81	18	1
5	80	19	1
6	80	19	1
7	78	20	2
8	78	20	2
9	77	21	2
10	77	21	2
11	77	21	2
12	76	22	2
13	76	22	2
14	75	22	3
15	75	22	3
16	75	22	3
17	75	22	3
18	75	22	3
19	74	23	3
20	74	23	3
21	74	23	3
22	74	23	3
23	73	23	4
24	73	23	4
25	73	23	4
26	73	23	4
27	72	24	4
28	72	24	4
29	72	24	4
30	71	25	4
31	71	25	4