Today's weather for Auckland, New Zealand8th Nov 2009 06:00

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Weather Overview for Auckland

As New Zealand’s largest city; Auckland features a warm temperate climate with warm, humid summers and cool damp winters.

The typical climate of Auckland is commonly warm and wet, bordering on sub-tropical. The city experiences abundant rain throughout the year, but the majority falls in winter. The weather can be surprisingly unpredictable with tropical cyclones and cold fronts causing sporadic extreme surroundings such as hailstorms.

Auckland sits on a latitude of 36.5 degrees South. Cities on similar latitudes in the Northern hemisphere include Malaga, Spain and Monterey and California. Auckland’s summer months however, are much colder than these mentioned cities with regards to the restraining effects of the surrounding Pacific Ocean.

It is the warmest major city of New Zealand and is as well one of the sunniest, with an average of 2060 sunshine hours per year. The average daily high temperature is 24°C which occurs in February and 15°C in July, throughout the winter. The total maximum recorded temperature is 33°C which will generally take place in January, while the absolute minimum is -2.5°C, normally in July or August.

The weather in Auckland is to some extent very erratic; consequently it is essential for visitors to the city to be prepared for whatever weather may come. Climatic conditions differ in assorted parts of the city due to the surrounding topography such as hills, land cover and distance from the sea, therefore informal temperature records subsist, such as the maximum of 34°C in west Auckland. In July 1939 Auckland received its only recorded snowfall. In summer, the average maximum temperature ranges between 20ºC to 30ºC and in winter between 10ºC to 15ºC.

Typical summer daytime maximum air temperatures range from 22°C to 26°C, but rarely exceed 30°C. In summer a light jacket or sweater should be incorporated in your luggage should the weather turn cooler or you visit higher altitudes.

Alike many major cities throughout New Zealand; Auckland suffers from various air pollutions, particularly in regards to fine particles emissions. There are also ordinary breaches of directive levels of carbon monoxide polluting the air. Whereas maritime winds usually dissolve the contamination moderately fast it can sometimes become visible as fog, principally on calm winter days.

Auckland with 1.3 million people is home to over a quarter of the total New Zealand population. It isn’t that the city is busy, just that the rest of the country is comparatively sparingly populated. It is also home to the largest Pacific Island community in the world and an ideal vacation at any time of the year.

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