Taupo weather in March

In March, Taupo sees average daytime highs of 19°C and overnight lows near 10°C, with 85 mm of rain across 9.3 wet days and about 12.3 hours of daylight. It is the 3rd-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 20°C in the first days to 18°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 24% of the time in March, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 54 min at the start of March to 11 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, March is Taupo's 1st-clearest and 10th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Taupo's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 19°; 3rd warmest
Overnight low: 10°; 10th coldest
Rainfall: 85 mm; 9.3 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 18 min; 7:16 AM – 7:35 PM
Cloud cover: 61%; 1st clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 10th windiest
Solar energy: 4.3 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.2; 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.

← February Taupo year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

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

Temperature in March

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

A typical March 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 16°C and 22°C. Set against its neighbours, March runs about 2°C cooler than February and about 3°C warmer than April.

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

Taupo weather by month

How March compares with the rest of the year at a glance. March is the 3rd-warmest and 11th-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 March

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 24% of the time in March, the clearest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 21% of March, 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 (%)	47	49	49	49	48	47	48	48	48	47	47	47	47	46	46	46	46	45	44	44	43	43	43	42	42	41	41	40	40	41	40
Cloudier (%)	53	51	51	51	52	53	52	52	52	53	53	53	53	54	54	54	54	55	56	56	57	57	57	58	58	59	59	60	60	59	60

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	47	53
13	47	53
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	45	55
19	44	56
20	44	56
21	43	57
22	43	57
23	43	57
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	40	60
29	40	60
30	41	59
31	40	60

Chance of precipitation in March

Any precipitation

Taupo gets around 85 mm of rain over 9.3 wet days in March. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 30% 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	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	30	30	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	31	31	31	32	32	33	33	34

	Rain chance (%)
1	30
2	30
3	29
4	29
5	29
6	29
7	29
8	29
9	29
10	29
11	29
12	29
13	29
14	29
15	30
16	30
17	30
18	30
19	30
20	30
21	30
22	30
23	30
24	31
25	31
26	31
27	32
28	32
29	33
30	33
31	34

Humidity in March

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, March 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 (%)	67	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	77	78	78	79	80	80	80	80	79	80	79	79	78	77	77	77	76	76	77	77	77	78	78
Comfortable (%)	27	26	25	24	23	22	21	20	19	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	19	19	20	21	21	21	22	22	21	21	21	20	20
Humid (%)	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	67	27	6
2	69	26	5
3	70	25	5
4	71	24	5
5	72	23	5
6	73	22	5
7	74	21	5
8	75	20	5
9	77	19	4
10	78	18	4
11	78	18	4
12	79	17	4
13	80	17	3
14	80	17	3
15	80	17	3
16	80	17	3
17	79	18	3
18	80	18	2
19	79	19	2
20	79	19	2
21	78	20	2
22	77	21	2
23	77	21	2
24	77	21	2
25	76	22	2
26	76	22	2
27	77	21	2
28	77	21	2
29	77	21	2
30	78	20	2
31	78	20	2

Wind in March

Winds average 10 km/h in March.

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

Sunrise & sunset in March

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 54 min at the start of March to 11 h 42 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 72 minutes over March. Sunrise moves from 7:01 AM to 7:31 AM, and sunset from 7:57 PM to 7:11 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)	12.9	12.9	12.9	12.8	12.8	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.6	12.6	12.5	12.5	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.3	12.3	12.2	12.2	12.1	12.1	12.1	12.0	12.0	11.9	11.9	11.8	11.8	11.8	11.7	11.7
Sunrise (AM)	7:01	7:02	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:06	7:07	7:08	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:12	7:13	7:14	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:22	7:23	7:24	7:25	7:26	7:27	7:28	7:29	7:30	7:31
Sunset (PM)	7:57	7:56	7:54	7:53	7:51	7:50	7:49	7:47	7:46	7:44	7:42	7:41	7:39	7:38	7:36	7:35	7:33	7:32	7:30	7:28	7:27	7:25	7:24	7:22	7:20	7:19	7:17	7:15	7:14	7:12	7:11

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.9	7:01	7:57
2	12.9	7:02	7:56
3	12.9	7:03	7:54
4	12.8	7:04	7:53
5	12.8	7:05	7:51
6	12.7	7:06	7:50
7	12.7	7:07	7:49
8	12.7	7:08	7:47
9	12.6	7:09	7:46
10	12.6	7:10	7:44
11	12.5	7:11	7:42
12	12.5	7:12	7:41
13	12.4	7:13	7:39
14	12.4	7:14	7:38
15	12.4	7:15	7:36
16	12.3	7:16	7:35
17	12.3	7:17	7:33
18	12.2	7:18	7:32
19	12.2	7:19	7:30
20	12.1	7:20	7:28
21	12.1	7:21	7:27
22	12.1	7:22	7:25
23	12.0	7:23	7:24
24	12.0	7:24	7:22
25	11.9	7:25	7:20
26	11.9	7:26	7:19
27	11.8	7:27	7:17
28	11.8	7:28	7:15
29	11.8	7:29	7:14
30	11.7	7:30	7:12
31	11.7	7:31	7:11

Solar energy in March

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in March, about 4.3 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 — March's 4.3 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)	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.7	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.7	3.7	3.6
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.0	Bright
2	4.9	Bright
3	4.9	Bright
4	4.8	Bright
5	4.8	Bright
6	4.8	Bright
7	4.7	Bright
8	4.7	Bright
9	4.6	Bright
10	4.6	Bright
11	4.5	Bright
12	4.5	Bright
13	4.5	Bright
14	4.4	Bright
15	4.4	Bright
16	4.3	Bright
17	4.3	Bright
18	4.2	Bright
19	4.2	Bright
20	4.1	Bright
21	4.1	Bright
22	4.0	Bright
23	4.0	Moderate
24	3.9	Moderate
25	3.9	Moderate
26	3.9	Moderate
27	3.8	Moderate
28	3.8	Moderate
29	3.7	Moderate
30	3.7	Moderate
31	3.6	Moderate

Planning a trip in March

Is March a good time to visit Taupo?

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

6.2

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

2.6

Beach & pool

3rd-best month of the year

March is a reasonable time to visit Taupo for sightseeing.

What to pack for Taupo in March

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

In March, Taupo sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 10°C. Worth packing: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

rain gear

UV index in Taupo in March

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in March peaks around 7 — enough to warrant sun protection. 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

← February Taupo year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	47	53
13	47	53
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	45	55
19	44	56
20	44	56
21	43	57
22	43	57
23	43	57
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	40	60
29	40	60
30	41	59
31	40	60

	Rain chance (%)
1	30
2	30
3	29
4	29
5	29
6	29
7	29
8	29
9	29
10	29
11	29
12	29
13	29
14	29
15	30
16	30
17	30
18	30
19	30
20	30
21	30
22	30
23	30
24	31
25	31
26	31
27	32
28	32
29	33
30	33
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	67	27	6
2	69	26	5
3	70	25	5
4	71	24	5
5	72	23	5
6	73	22	5
7	74	21	5
8	75	20	5
9	77	19	4
10	78	18	4
11	78	18	4
12	79	17	4
13	80	17	3
14	80	17	3
15	80	17	3
16	80	17	3
17	79	18	3
18	80	18	2
19	79	19	2
20	79	19	2
21	78	20	2
22	77	21	2
23	77	21	2
24	77	21	2
25	76	22	2
26	76	22	2
27	77	21	2
28	77	21	2
29	77	21	2
30	78	20	2
31	78	20	2

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	47	53
13	47	53
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	45	55
19	44	56
20	44	56
21	43	57
22	43	57
23	43	57
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	40	60
29	40	60
30	41	59
31	40	60

	Rain chance (%)
1	30
2	30
3	29
4	29
5	29
6	29
7	29
8	29
9	29
10	29
11	29
12	29
13	29
14	29
15	30
16	30
17	30
18	30
19	30
20	30
21	30
22	30
23	30
24	31
25	31
26	31
27	32
28	32
29	33
30	33
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	67	27	6
2	69	26	5
3	70	25	5
4	71	24	5
5	72	23	5
6	73	22	5
7	74	21	5
8	75	20	5
9	77	19	4
10	78	18	4
11	78	18	4
12	79	17	4
13	80	17	3
14	80	17	3
15	80	17	3
16	80	17	3
17	79	18	3
18	80	18	2
19	79	19	2
20	79	19	2
21	78	20	2
22	77	21	2
23	77	21	2
24	77	21	2
25	76	22	2
26	76	22	2
27	77	21	2
28	77	21	2
29	77	21	2
30	78	20	2
31	78	20	2

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	48	52
6	47	53
7	48	52
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	47	53
12	47	53
13	47	53
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	45	55
19	44	56
20	44	56
21	43	57
22	43	57
23	43	57
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	40	60
29	40	60
30	41	59
31	40	60

	Rain chance (%)
1	30
2	30
3	29
4	29
5	29
6	29
7	29
8	29
9	29
10	29
11	29
12	29
13	29
14	29
15	30
16	30
17	30
18	30
19	30
20	30
21	30
22	30
23	30
24	31
25	31
26	31
27	32
28	32
29	33
30	33
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	67	27	6
2	69	26	5
3	70	25	5
4	71	24	5
5	72	23	5
6	73	22	5
7	74	21	5
8	75	20	5
9	77	19	4
10	78	18	4
11	78	18	4
12	79	17	4
13	80	17	3
14	80	17	3
15	80	17	3
16	80	17	3
17	79	18	3
18	80	18	2
19	79	19	2
20	79	19	2
21	78	20	2
22	77	21	2
23	77	21	2
24	77	21	2
25	76	22	2
26	76	22	2
27	77	21	2
28	77	21	2
29	77	21	2
30	78	20	2
31	78	20	2