Climate and Average Weather Year Round in New Plymouth New ZealandIn New Plymouth, the summers are short and comfortable, the winters are cold and wet, and it is windy and partly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 48°F to 68°F and is rarely below 42°F or above 72°F. Based on the tourism score, the best time of year to visit New Plymouth for warm-weather activities is from early January to mid March. Average Temperature in New PlymouthThe warm season lasts for 2.8 months, from December 30 to March 23, with an average daily high temperature above 66°F. The hottest month of the year in New Plymouth is February, with an average high of 68°F and low of 61°F. The cool season lasts for 3.5 months, from June 4 to September 20, with an average daily high temperature below 58°F. The coldest month of the year in New Plymouth is July, with an average low of 48°F and high of 55°F.
The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Corcubión, Spain (12,132 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to New Plymouth (view comparison). 
Compare New Plymouth to another city:CloudsIn New Plymouth, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year. The clearer part of the year in New Plymouth begins around January 2 and lasts for 3.3 months, ending around April 13. The clearest month of the year in New Plymouth is March, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 65% of the time. The cloudier part of the year begins around April 13 and lasts for 8.7 months, ending around January 2. The cloudiest month of the year in New Plymouth is July, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 48% of the time.
PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in New Plymouth varies throughout the year. The wetter season lasts 7.7 months, from April 30 to December 20, with a greater than 32% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days in New Plymouth is June, with an average of 12.5 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. The drier season lasts 4.3 months, from December 20 to April 30. The month with the fewest wet days in New Plymouth is February, with an average of 6.6 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. The month with the most days of rain alone in New Plymouth is June, with an average of 12.5 days. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 43% on June 23.
RainfallTo show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. New Plymouth experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall. Rain falls throughout the year in New Plymouth. The month with the most rain in New Plymouth is June, with an average rainfall of 4.5 inches. The month with the least rain in New Plymouth is January, with an average rainfall of 2.7 inches.
SunThe length of the day in New Plymouth varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2024, the shortest day is June 21, with 9 hours, 25 minutes of daylight; the longest day is December 21, with 14 hours, 55 minutes of daylight.
The earliest sunrise is at 5:51 AM on December 8, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 53 minutes later at 7:43 AM on June 28. The earliest sunset is at 5:07 PM on June 13, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 46 minutes later at 8:52 PM on January 5. Daylight saving time (DST) is observed in New Plymouth during 2024, starting in the spring on September 29 and ending in the fall on April 7. Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in New Plymouth
The solar day over the course of the year 2024. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray. The transitions to and from daylight saving time are indicated by the 'DST' labels.
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. Solar Elevation and Azimuth in New Plymouth
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Solar elevation and azimuth over the course of the year 2024. The black lines are lines of constant solar elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon, in degrees). The background color fills indicate the azimuth (the compass bearing) of the sun. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries of the cardinal compass points indicate the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).
MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for 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. 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 perceived humidity level in New Plymouth, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, staying within 5% of 5% throughout.
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 New Plymouth experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year. The windier part of the year lasts for 7.1 months, from May 3 to December 6, with average wind speeds of more than 13.5 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year in New Plymouth is October, with an average hourly wind speed of 14.8 miles per hour. The calmer time of year lasts for 4.9 months, from December 6 to May 3. The calmest month of the year in New Plymouth is February, with an average hourly wind speed of 12.0 miles per hour.
The predominant average hourly wind direction in New Plymouth is from the west throughout the year. Wind Direction in New Plymouth
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The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions, excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1.0 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).
Water TemperatureNew Plymouth 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 water temperature experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year. The time of year with warmer water lasts for 2.8 months, from January 8 to April 1, with an average temperature above 65°F. The month of the year in New Plymouth with the warmest water is February, with an average temperature of 67°F. The time of year with cooler water lasts for 3.9 months, from June 27 to October 25, with an average temperature below 58°F. The month of the year in New Plymouth with the coolest water is August, with an average temperature of 56°F.
Best Time of Year to VisitTo characterize how pleasant the weather is in New Plymouth throughout the year, we compute two travel scores. The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit New Plymouth for general outdoor tourist activities is from early January to mid March, with a peak score in the second week of February. Tourism Score in New Plymouth
The tourism score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).
The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit New Plymouth for hot-weather activities is from late January to late February, with a peak score in the second week of February. Beach/Pool Score in New Plymouth
The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).
MethodologyFor each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed. Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies. Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more. Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter. Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter. 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 New Plymouth 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. Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in New Plymouth
frigid
15°F
freezing
32°F
very cold
45°F
cold
55°F
cool
65°F
comfortable
75°F
warm
85°F
hot
95°F
sweltering
The percentage of time spent in various temperature bands. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is 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. 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 experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year. The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.5 months, from November 5 to February 18, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 6.3 kWh. The brightest month of the year in New Plymouth is January, with an average of 7.3 kWh. The darker period of the year lasts for 3.7 months, from April 29 to August 18, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 2.9 kWh. The darkest month of the year in New Plymouth is June, with an average of 1.8 kWh.
TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of New Plymouth are -39.067 deg latitude, 174.083 deg longitude, and 210 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of New Plymouth contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 351 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 151 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,175 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (8,166 feet). The area within 2 miles of New Plymouth is covered by grassland (55%), trees (25%), and water (15%), within 10 miles by water (47%) and cropland (36%), and within 50 miles by water (67%) and trees (17%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in New Plymouth, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Ohakea Aerodrome, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of New Plymouth. At a distance of 169 kilometers from New Plymouth, further than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed insufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. Consequently, the station records are blended with interpolated values from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis , and both are corrected for elevation differences according to the International Standard Atmosphere . The weight assigned to the MERRA-2 value depends on the distance from New Plymouth to the nearest station, increasing from 0% at 150 kilometers to 100% at 200 kilometers. In this case, the MERRA-2 weight is 28%, making the weight assigned to the weather station 72%. 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. |
