December Weather at Invercargill Airport New ZealandDaily high temperatures increase by 3°F, from 61°F to 64°F, rarely falling below 53°F or exceeding 71°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 2°F, from 48°F to 51°F, rarely falling below 43°F or exceeding 57°F. For reference, on February 4, the hottest day of the year, temperatures at Invercargill Airport typically range from 52°F to 65°F, while on July 9, the coldest day of the year, they range from 38°F to 48°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. Siletz, United States (7,534 miles away); Chonchi, Chile (5,212 miles); and Dublin, Ireland (11,914 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Invercargill Airport (view comparison). CloudsThe month of December at Invercargill Airport experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 54% throughout the month. The clearest day of the month is December 4, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 48% of the time. For reference, on May 18, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 61%, while on February 9, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 51%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. At Invercargill Airport, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is essentially constant, remaining around 41% throughout. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 43% on May 19, and its lowest chance is 34% on April 21. 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 at Invercargill Airport is increasing, starting the month at 3.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.8 inches or falls below 1.8 inches, and ending the month at 4.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 6.4 inches or falls below 1.8 inches. SunOver the course of December at Invercargill Airport, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is December 1, with 15 hours, 31 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 21, with 15 hours, 49 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month at Invercargill Airport is 5:48 AM on December 11 and the latest sunrise is 9 minutes later at 5:57 AM on December 31. The earliest sunset is 9:21 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 20 minutes later at 9:42 PM on December 31. Daylight saving time is observed at Invercargill Airport 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 5:50 AM and sets 15 hours, 49 minutes later, at 9:39 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 8:30 AM and sets 8 hours, 35 minutes later, at 5:05 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 at Invercargill Airport is essentially constant during December, remaining around 0% throughout. For reference, on February 11, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on March 13, 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 at Invercargill Airport is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.3 miles per hour of 12.2 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on October 6, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 13.3 miles per hour, while on February 7, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 11.2 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction at Invercargill Airport throughout December is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 52% on December 1. Water TemperatureInvercargill 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 Invercargill Airport is gradually increasing during December, rising by 2°F, from 55°F to 57°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). The growing season at Invercargill Airport typically lasts for 11 months (322 days), from around July 30 to around June 18, rarely starting after October 4, or ending before April 10. The month of December at Invercargill Airport is reliably fully within the growing season. 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 Invercargill Airport are gradually increasing during December, increasing by 175°F, from 239°F to 414°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 at Invercargill Airport is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.1 kWh of 6.5 kWh throughout. The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during December is 6.6 kWh on December 15. Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather at Invercargill Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointInvercargill Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required. There are no other weather stations in our network within 200 kilometers of this location. Consequently, in the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on NASA's MERRA-2 modern-era reanalysis , adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal differences between this station and the wide-area MERRA-2 reconstructed values.Other DataAll 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. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . 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. 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. |