Wellington weather in March

In March, Wellington sees average daytime highs of 17°C and overnight lows near 14°C, with 59 mm of rain across 7.4 wet days and about 12.3 hours of daylight. It is the 3rd-warmest and 10th-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 43% of the time in March, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 hours at the start of March to 11 h 36 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, March is Wellington's 2nd-clearest and 10th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Wellington's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 17°; 3rd warmest
Overnight low: 14°; 10th coldest
Rainfall: 59 mm; 7.4 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 18 min; 7:20 AM – 7:41 PM
Cloud cover: 50%; 2nd clearest
Wind: 25 km/h; 10th windiest
Solar energy: 4.72 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.8; out of 10

Wellington is capital city of New Zealand; urban area of the cities of Wellington, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, and Porirua.

Air quality: Excellent; PM10 12.9 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 860/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1839

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

← February Wellington 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

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

A typical March day in Wellington reaches about 17°C in the afternoon and slips back to 14°C overnight — a 2°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 15°C and 18°C. Set against its neighbours, March runs about 1°C cooler than February and about 2°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)	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Avg low (°C)	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14

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

Wellington weather by month

How March compares with the rest of the year at a glance. March is the 3rd-warmest and 10th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	17° / 15°	55	7.5	14.6	5.9
Feb	18° / 15°	56	6.1	13.7	6.4
Mar	17° / 14°	59	7.4	12.3	5.8
Apr	15° / 13°	73	9	10.9	4.8
May	14° / 12°	76	10.2	9.7	4.0
Jun	12° / 10°	95	12.1	9.1	3.1
Jul	11° / 9°	87	12.1	9.3	2.7
Aug	11° / 9°	82	12.6	10.3	2.7
Sep	12° / 10°	74	10.8	11.7	3.2
Oct	13° / 11°	83	11.3	13.1	3.6
Nov	14° / 12°	69	9.1	14.3	4.3
Dec	16° / 14°	65	9.6	14.9	5.0

Cloud cover in March

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 43% of the time in March.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 17% of March, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 40%.

	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 (%)	61	61	60	60	60	59	59	60	59	59	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	60	59	59	59
Cloudier (%)	39	39	40	40	40	41	41	40	41	41	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	41	41	41

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

Chance of precipitation in March

Any precipitation

Wellington gets around 59 mm of rain over 7.4 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 24% and peaks near 28% on the wettest days. The odds climb toward the end of the month.

	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 (%)	21	21	20	20	21	21	21	22	22	22	23	23	24	24	25	25	26	26	26	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	28	28

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

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 53% 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 (%)	46	47	48	50	51	51	53	53	54	54	55	55	55	55	55	55	54	54	54	53	53	53	53	53	53	54	55	55	56	58	59
Comfortable (%)	43	42	42	41	40	40	39	39	39	39	39	39	40	40	41	41	42	42	42	43	43	43	43	43	43	42	41	41	40	38	37
Humid (%)	11	10	10	9	9	9	8	8	7	7	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	46	43	11
2	47	42	10
3	48	42	10
4	50	41	9
5	51	40	9
6	51	40	9
7	53	39	8
8	53	39	8
9	54	39	7
10	54	39	7
11	55	39	6
12	55	39	6
13	55	40	5
14	55	40	5
15	55	41	4
16	55	41	4
17	54	42	4
18	54	42	4
19	54	42	4
20	53	43	4
21	53	43	4
22	53	43	4
23	53	43	4
24	53	43	4
25	53	43	4
26	54	42	4
27	55	41	4
28	55	41	4
29	56	40	4
30	58	38	4
31	59	37	4

Wind in March

Winds average 25 km/h in March.

Across March, daily wind ranges from about 25 km/h on the calmest days to 25 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)	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25
Feels	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	25	breezy
2	25	breezy
3	25	breezy
4	25	breezy
5	25	breezy
6	25	breezy
7	25	breezy
8	25	breezy
9	25	breezy
10	25	breezy
11	25	breezy
12	25	breezy
13	25	breezy
14	25	breezy
15	25	breezy
16	25	breezy
17	25	breezy
18	25	breezy
19	25	breezy
20	25	breezy
21	25	breezy
22	25	breezy
23	25	breezy
24	25	breezy
25	25	breezy
26	25	breezy
27	25	breezy
28	25	breezy
29	25	breezy
30	25	breezy
31	25	breezy

Sunrise & sunset in March

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 hours at the start of March to 11 h 36 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 84 minutes over March. Sunrise moves from 7:03 AM to 7:37 AM, and sunset from 8:05 PM to 7:15 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)	13.0	13.0	12.9	12.9	12.9	12.8	12.8	12.7	12.7	12.6	12.6	12.5	12.5	12.4	12.4	12.3	12.3	12.2	12.2	12.2	12.1	12.1	12.0	12.0	11.9	11.9	11.8	11.8	11.7	11.7	11.6
Sunrise (AM)	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:07	7:08	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:12	7:13	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:23	7:24	7:25	7:26	7:27	7:28	7:29	7:30	7:31	7:32	7:34	7:35	7:36	7:37
Sunset (PM)	8:05	8:04	8:02	8:01	7:59	7:57	7:56	7:54	7:53	7:51	7:49	7:48	7:46	7:44	7:43	7:41	7:39	7:37	7:36	7:34	7:32	7:31	7:29	7:27	7:25	7:24	7:22	7:20	7:18	7:17	7:15

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.0	7:03	8:05
2	13.0	7:04	8:04
3	12.9	7:05	8:02
4	12.9	7:07	8:01
5	12.9	7:08	7:59
6	12.8	7:09	7:57
7	12.8	7:10	7:56
8	12.7	7:11	7:54
9	12.7	7:12	7:53
10	12.6	7:13	7:51
11	12.6	7:15	7:49
12	12.5	7:16	7:48
13	12.5	7:17	7:46
14	12.4	7:18	7:44
15	12.4	7:19	7:43
16	12.3	7:20	7:41
17	12.3	7:21	7:39
18	12.2	7:23	7:37
19	12.2	7:24	7:36
20	12.2	7:25	7:34
21	12.1	7:26	7:32
22	12.1	7:27	7:31
23	12.0	7:28	7:29
24	12.0	7:29	7:27
25	11.9	7:30	7:25
26	11.9	7:31	7:24
27	11.8	7:32	7:22
28	11.8	7:34	7:20
29	11.7	7:35	7:18
30	11.7	7:36	7:17
31	11.6	7:37	7:15

Solar energy in March

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in March, about 4.72 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.6 kWh/m² to a high of 7.3 kWh/m² in January across the year — March's 4.72 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)	5.5	5.4	5.4	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.0	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.7	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.9
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.5	Bright
2	5.4	Bright
3	5.4	Bright
4	5.3	Bright
5	5.3	Bright
6	5.2	Bright
7	5.2	Bright
8	5.1	Bright
9	5.1	Bright
10	5.0	Bright
11	5.0	Bright
12	4.9	Bright
13	4.9	Bright
14	4.8	Bright
15	4.8	Bright
16	4.7	Bright
17	4.7	Bright
18	4.6	Bright
19	4.6	Bright
20	4.5	Bright
21	4.5	Bright
22	4.4	Bright
23	4.4	Bright
24	4.3	Bright
25	4.3	Bright
26	4.2	Bright
27	4.1	Bright
28	4.1	Bright
29	4.0	Bright
30	4.0	Moderate
31	3.9	Moderate

Planning a trip in March

Is March a good time to visit Wellington?

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

5.8

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

1.2

Beach & pool

3rd-best month of the year

March is a reasonable time to visit Wellington for sightseeing.

What to pack for Wellington in March

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

In March, Wellington sees daytime highs around 17°C and nights near 14°C. Worth packing: a warm layer, sun protection and a windbreaker. About 7 days see rain.

a warm layersun protectiona windbreaker

Sea temperature near Wellington in March

The nearest coast averages about 16°C in March — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 13 km away) is warmest in February at about 17°C and coldest in August near 12°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)	16	17	16	15	14	13	12	12	12	13	14	15
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	16	Cool
Feb	17	Cool
Mar	16	Cool
Apr	15	Cool
May	14	Bracing
Jun	13	Bracing
Jul	12	Bracing
Aug	12	Bracing
Sep	12	Bracing
Oct	13	Bracing
Nov	14	Bracing
Dec	15	Bracing

UV index in Wellington in March

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in March peaks around 6 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Wellington peaks around January 1 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	11	10	6	4	2	1	2	3	4	6	9	11
Level	Extreme	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	10	Extreme
Mar	6	High
Apr	4	Moderate
May	2	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	2	Low
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	9	Very high
Dec	11	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Wellington?

Wellington sits at 41.3°S, 174.8°E, 31 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Karori, 3.0 km away.

Topography around Wellington

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Wellington has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 349 m around an average of 85 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 528 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,512 m.

The land around Wellington is covered by trees (45%), artificial surfaces (29%) and water (22%) within 3 km, water (46%) and trees (31%) within 16 km, and water (60%) and trees (23%) within 80 km.

3 km

349 m

trees 45%

16 km

528 m

water 46%

80 km

1,512 m

water 60%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

March weather nearby: Karori 3.0 km · Lower Hutt 14 km · Wainuiomata 15 km · Porirua 18 km · Upper Hutt 28 km · Paraparaumu 46 km · Picton 64 km · Blenheim 73 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 Wellington (-41.2866°, 174.7756°, elevation 31 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	17	15
2	17	15
3	17	15
4	17	15
5	17	15
6	17	15
7	17	15
8	17	14
9	17	14
10	17	14
11	17	14
12	17	14
13	17	14
14	17	14
15	17	14
16	17	14
17	17	14
18	17	14
19	17	14
20	17	14
21	17	14
22	16	14
23	16	14
24	16	14
25	16	14
26	16	14
27	16	14
28	16	14
29	16	14
30	16	14
31	16	14

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	46	43	11
2	47	42	10
3	48	42	10
4	50	41	9
5	51	40	9
6	51	40	9
7	53	39	8
8	53	39	8
9	54	39	7
10	54	39	7
11	55	39	6
12	55	39	6
13	55	40	5
14	55	40	5
15	55	41	4
16	55	41	4
17	54	42	4
18	54	42	4
19	54	42	4
20	53	43	4
21	53	43	4
22	53	43	4
23	53	43	4
24	53	43	4
25	53	43	4
26	54	42	4
27	55	41	4
28	55	41	4
29	56	40	4
30	58	38	4
31	59	37	4

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

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	46	43	11
2	47	42	10
3	48	42	10
4	50	41	9
5	51	40	9
6	51	40	9
7	53	39	8
8	53	39	8
9	54	39	7
10	54	39	7
11	55	39	6
12	55	39	6
13	55	40	5
14	55	40	5
15	55	41	4
16	55	41	4
17	54	42	4
18	54	42	4
19	54	42	4
20	53	43	4
21	53	43	4
22	53	43	4
23	53	43	4
24	53	43	4
25	53	43	4
26	54	42	4
27	55	41	4
28	55	41	4
29	56	40	4
30	58	38	4
31	59	37	4

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

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	46	43	11
2	47	42	10
3	48	42	10
4	50	41	9
5	51	40	9
6	51	40	9
7	53	39	8
8	53	39	8
9	54	39	7
10	54	39	7
11	55	39	6
12	55	39	6
13	55	40	5
14	55	40	5
15	55	41	4
16	55	41	4
17	54	42	4
18	54	42	4
19	54	42	4
20	53	43	4
21	53	43	4
22	53	43	4
23	53	43	4
24	53	43	4
25	53	43	4
26	54	42	4
27	55	41	4
28	55	41	4
29	56	40	4
30	58	38	4
31	59	37	4