December Weather in Waimate North New ZealandDaily high temperatures increase by 4°F, from 69°F to 72°F, rarely falling below 65°F or exceeding 76°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 3°F, from 58°F to 61°F, rarely falling below 54°F or exceeding 65°F. For reference, on February 7, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Waimate North typically range from 63°F to 75°F, while on August 16, the coldest day of the year, they range from 50°F to 58°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on December. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Camacha, Portugal (11,809 miles away) and Peniche, Portugal (12,118 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Waimate North (view comparison). CloudsThe month of December in Waimate North experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 42% to 38%. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 43% on December 14. The clearest day of the month is December 31, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 62% of the time. For reference, on December 14, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 43%, while on March 17, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 71%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Waimate North, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 26% and ending it at 23%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 40% on July 6, and its lowest chance is 21% on January 29. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during December in Waimate North is essentially constant, remaining about 2.5 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 4.6 inches or falling below 0.8 inches. The highest average 31-day accumulation is 2.6 inches on December 30. SunOver the course of December in Waimate North, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is December 1, with 14 hours, 21 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 21, with 14 hours, 33 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month in Waimate North is 6:02 AM on December 6 and the latest sunrise is 10 minutes later at 6:12 AM on December 31. The earliest sunset is 8:24 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 18 minutes later at 8:42 PM on December 31. Daylight saving time is observed in Waimate North during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during December, so the entire month is in standard time. For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:06 AM and sets 14 hours, 33 minutes later, at 8:38 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:32 AM and sets 9 hours, 46 minutes later, at 5:19 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for December 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Waimate North is gradually increasing during December, rising from 1% to 5% over the course of the month. For reference, on February 15, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 12% of the time, while on June 9, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Waimate North is gradually decreasing during December, decreasing from 14.2 miles per hour to 13.2 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on June 30, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 15.9 miles per hour, while on April 3, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 12.9 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Waimate North throughout December is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 36% on December 1. Water TemperatureWaimate North is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Waimate North is gradually increasing during December, rising by 3°F, from 64°F to 66°F, over the course of the month. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures in Waimate North are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Waimate North are increasing during December, increasing by 434°F, from 965°F to 1,399°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Waimate North is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.2 kWh of 7.5 kWh throughout. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Waimate North are -35.317 deg latitude, 173.883 deg longitude, and 587 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Waimate North contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 614 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 480 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,739 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (2,651 feet). The area within 2 miles of Waimate North is covered by cropland (45%) and trees (38%), within 10 miles by trees (63%) and grassland (14%), and within 50 miles by water (62%) and trees (26%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Waimate North, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Waimate North is further than 200 kilometers from the nearest reliable weather station, so the weather-related data on this page were taken entirely from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. The temperature and dew point estimates are corrected for the difference between the reference elevation of the MERRA-2 grid cell and the elevation of Waimate North, according to the International Standard Atmosphere . All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |