Wellington weather in January

Wellington's forum pushes back on the city's rainy-and-windy reputation — January, in New Zealand's summer, is genuinely pleasant, though the wind itself never really lets up regardless of how sunny the day gets. Regulars note the temperature drops noticeably once the sun goes down, so a light layer for the evening is worth having even in midsummer.

Regulars are direct that spring here specifically brings the strong winds the city's own nickname, Windy Wellington, is built on, this stretch after the equinox naming the real high point for both wind and rain within the year. Our row backs that cool, genuinely blustery read, 16.4C over 9.8C nights feeling 6C, with 70.6mm of rain across 12.5 days and a real 30.1 kph wind. Regulars are consistent that sunny, fine days do arrive within the same week as a windy, wet one, so the standard advice is layers plus a proper wind-and-waterproof outer shell rather than counting on either extreme. The sea still sits at a cool 13.6C this early in spring. The record: humidity 79 percent, 10.5 hours of sun and one of the cleanest air readings in this project, AQI 28.

Regulars push back on this city's reputation while confirming the one part that is true: the equinoxial spring winds are the worst of the year, one poster joking it might blow your socks off, though most evenings the wind sits at nothing like that. Our row backs the real figure, a genuine 29.3 kph average, alongside 18.3C reading as 17C over 11.9C nights and 80.6mm of rain across 11.7 days. November through April is the board's named good-weather window, and mid-November specifically gets called out as warm enough while still ahead of the summer crowds. Snow can still sit on distant mountain tops even this late in spring. The sea is a cool 15.1C. The record: humidity 80 percent, 11.2 hours of sun and AQI 27.

December is the first month of summer and regulars will not promise you one: the range they quote is enormous, the phrase they use is four seasons in a day, and the settled weather is generally held to start at the end of January rather than here. What they do promise about this city is wind, and our column agrees at 28.8 kph as a monthly average - it is the wind, not the temperature, that people remember. Days reach 20.3C but read as 19C for that reason, and nights hold 13.3C. Rain is 82.1mm across 12.4 days, so a proper rain jacket rather than a token one. Book early: from mid-December the country is full. The record: humidity 81 percent, 11.7 hours of sun, a 17.1C sea and AQI 25.

March in Wellington is normally pretty good - sunny and warm, 18 to 25C, with the start of the month the better half and a few cool nights arriving towards the end. Our row gives 19.9C over 13.3C. The packing advice locals repeat is the useful part and it is all about the wind: an umbrella is often useless here, so bring a raincoat, below the knee if you can. Our row's 25.9 kph is the reason the city's nickname sticks even in a settled month. What locals themselves wear in March is long trousers and a T-shirt with a long-sleeved shirt, and a jersey for the evenings. The record: 60.8mm across 9 precipitation days, humidity 79 percent, an 18C sea and AQI 23, among the cleanest air in this dataset.