December Weather at Tubuai – Mataura Airport French Polynesia

Daily high temperatures are around 80°F, rarely falling below 77°F or exceeding 84°F.

Daily low temperatures are around 73°F, rarely falling below 69°F or exceeding 77°F.

For reference, on February 19, the hottest day of the year, temperatures at Tubuai – Mataura Airport typically range from 76°F to 83°F, while on August 22, the coldest day of the year, they range from 67°F to 74°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.

Amaury, Mauritius (8,927 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Tubuai – Mataura Airport (view comparison).

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The month of December at Tubuai – Mataura Airport experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 68% to 75%. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 76% on December 24.

The clearest day of the month is December 4, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 32% of the time.

For reference, on December 24, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 76%, while on August 11, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 56%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. At Tubuai – Mataura Airport, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is very rapidly increasing, starting the month at 37% and ending it at 48%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 48% on December 31, and its lowest chance is 23% on September 19.

Rainfall

To 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 at Tubuai – Mataura Airport is very rapidly increasing, starting the month at 4.8 inches, when it rarely exceeds 8.4 inches or falls below 1.7 inches, and ending the month at 7.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 13.0 inches or falls below 3.2 inches.

The highest average 31-day accumulation is 7.7 inches on December 29.

Over the course of December at Tubuai – Mataura Airport, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is December 1, with 13 hours, 29 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 20, with 13 hours, 35 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the month at Tubuai – Mataura Airport is 5:03 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 12 minutes later at 5:15 AM on December 31.

The earliest sunset is 6:31 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 16 minutes later at 6:47 PM on December 31.

Daylight saving time is not observed at Tubuai – Mataura Airport during 2024.

For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:09 AM and sets 13 hours, 35 minutes later, at 6:43 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:39 AM and sets 10 hours, 42 minutes later, at 5:20 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.

The 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.

We 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 at Tubuai – Mataura Airport is increasing during December, rising from 82% to 91% over the course of the month.

For reference, on February 14, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 98% of the time, while on August 7, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 33% of the time.

This 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 at Tubuai – Mataura Airport is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 13.7 miles per hour throughout.

For reference, on July 28, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 15.0 miles per hour, while on March 12, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 12.4 miles per hour.

The hourly average wind direction at Tubuai – Mataura Airport throughout December is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 62% on December 9.

Tubuai – Mataura Airport 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 at Tubuai – Mataura Airport is essentially constant during December, remaining within 1°F of 77°F throughout.

Definitions 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 at Tubuai – Mataura Airport 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 at Tubuai – Mataura Airport are rapidly increasing during December, increasing by 783°F, from 3,260°F to 4,043°F, over the course of the month.

This 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 at Tubuai – Mataura Airport is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.2 kWh of 6.2 kWh throughout.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Tubuai – Mataura Airport are -23.365 deg latitude, -149.524 deg longitude, and 20 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Tubuai – Mataura Airport contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 942 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 34 feet. Within 10 miles also contains very significant variations in elevation (1,319 feet). Within 50 miles also contains very significant variations in elevation (1,319 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Tubuai – Mataura Airport is covered by water (100%), within 10 miles by water (100%), and within 50 miles by water (100%).