Weather

[pkstout]

Can anyone give me an idea of typical summer/winter temperatures in Auckland/Wellington/Christchurch as it is dificult to judge from what I have seen so far.

[IanW99]

Welcome to the forum.

You could try the following thread to start you off - Compare the Weather

Ian

[Tia Maria]

Temperatures in themselves can be a bit misleading, as a strong wind, high humidity, big downpour, cloudy day and cold house can all affect how warm/cold it feels.

Also there are quite a few micro climates going on depending on what side of the mountains you are on, or what coast you are near etc. In Auckland I find I could be putting up with a day of rain while 20 minutes up the road they could be having non-stop sunshine.

To top it all they are saying this year that the el nino effect will mean that the South Island is the place to be for sunshine, while the normally sunnier North Island is going to have higher humidity and more rain - who knows if its true but if it is I'll be holiday down South this summer!.

The main generalisations are:

Auckland - hotter and wetter, more humid. Very rare to get a frost even in winter (although I have seen hailstones a few times in my 2 years here)

Wellington - Windy, not as hot as Auckland but warmer than Christchurch

Christchurch - More seasonal weather and can get snow in winter.

Personally I find, in Auckland, all the weather is more extreme, if it rains it downpours, if its windy you can't keep an umbrella up and if the sun comes out you can burn really quickly and any wet clothes from the previous downpour dry out in a couple of minute. And yes, all this can happen in one afternoon so it can be sunscreen and sun glasses one minute, and rain coat and umbrella the next.

Auckland to me seems to have two season, 'Summer' (December till April) and 'Waiting for the Summer' (Rest of the time). There are a lot more blue skies and generally a lighter feel to the place than Europe..

Cheers

Tia

[pkstout]

Thanks for that - have no real preferences yet, just getting a feel. Hoping to be able to do beach and ski options, so does that mean maybe South Island ?

[benandclare]

Dont know about doing beach and ski in one day but Mount Hutt http://www.nzski.com/guides/mthutt/ is only 90 mins away and the beach is 12 mins from where we live in Chch

[pkstout]

Sorry wasnt too clear - just meant options to do both without travelling too far. Not necessarily on the same day, more like Summer/Winter but would prefer to be able to drive to either from Somewhere - Christchurch sounds like an option then

[benandclare]

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