Climate and average weather in Wellington

Wellington gets about 799 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.3 months, from around Apr 26 to Oct 4, peaking in June at about 37% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Mar 8.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 152 mm over about 11 wet days; February is the driest, with 17 mm.

Over a full year, Wellington collects about 799 mm of rain across 80 wet days — roughly 67 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 152 mm, while February is the driest at just 17 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 49% of the year’s total.

In Wellington, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around November 14 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around April 13. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 88% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 14 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around November 13. The cloudiest month is September, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 45% of the time.

Wellington averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.8 months, from around Nov 19 to Apr 13. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is September, down near 12 sunny days — about 49% fewer than the January peak.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Wellington, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in February, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 8% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Wellington is steady company: average speeds sit near 9 km/h — calm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.