Weather In Wellington

[barneybetty]

Hi,

Visited Wellington last year and really liked it. My only reservation about living there was the weather. We had heard that it can be very wet and windy. Just wondering overall how is the climate there?
What are the summers like- do you get a nice summer as that would be important to us coming from Ireland where we have had no summer for past 3 years!!
I have looked up web but hard to get accurate picture on how the climate really is. Are there areas on outskirts that have better climate?
Any info would be great.

[ExitStageSouth]

Hi,
I have looked up web but hard to get accurate picture on how the climate really is. Are there areas on outskirts that have better climate?
Any info would be great.

If you search these forums you'll find lots of anecdotal chat about the weather just about anywhere in NZ you might be interested in. The problem is that they are just that -- anecdotal. It's always hard to tell how your experience would match someone else's.

If you go here then you can look through archives of the webcam, which would give you some idea. I doubt anything can really give you an "accurate" impression of how you'll like it over the long-term though.

[gazza1000]

Well the weather today in Wellington is extremely wet,cold,windy & foggy just like yesterday but on Saturday it was very hot and sunny ( 30 deg C ) !
The weather in Wellington can be very changeable over a day and certainly over a week but overall we have found the weather to be better than the UK
The winter whilst wet and windy was much milder than a normal UK winter
( particularly as the winter there this year has been exreme ) with no snow and very rare frosts
The only aspect of the weather here we do find annoying is the winds which can be far more extreme then what we experienced in the UK
Gazza1000

[eassae]

I have been here a year and the ranges seams to break down to sucky, mostly sucky, mostly sucky to partly crappy, partly crappy and 1 out of 30 days is clear and sunny—to partly crappy.

[Alive&Kicking]

I lived in Wellington for two years and although I liked the weather and especially the wind had a huge influence on my well-feeling. Can't imagine ever going back living there, mainly because of the weather. But still a lot of people live there and do not seem to care, although........... a lot of them are complaining.

Living in Blenheim it is great to see the big black clouds passing by on the way to Wellington (and this happens quite regularly - no anecdote at all!)

Good luck with your decisions

Anita

[IanW99]

Probably not the best time to ask such a question as the summer in Wellington this year has so far failed to live up to expectations, so most comments won't be as favourable as they could be.

For a more realistic comparison check out Comparison of New Zealand and British Climates and Weather which offsets the seasons to give side by side comparisons.

From a summer perspective, yes you do (normally) get a good summer (hopefully it is just late this year).

Alternatively as you say, you could move out a bit further upto either the Kapiti coast, or over to the Wairarapa which both have a better climate but of course a longer commute should you need to get into the CBD.

Ian

[langers]

Hi,

Visited Wellington last year and really liked it. My only reservation about living there was the weather. We had heard that it can be very wet and windy. Just wondering overall how is the climate there?
What are the summers like- do you get a nice summer as that would be important to us coming from Ireland where we have had no summer for past 3 years!!
I have looked up web but hard to get accurate picture on how the climate really is. Are there areas on outskirts that have better climate?
Any info would be great.

My 2 cents would be that if weather is important then stay away from Wellington itself as the weather can be shocking compared to surrounding area simply due to geography.

Summers in this part of the world are lovely but not all that long so you should really think about Winters which can get very, very miserable.

The weather gets considerably better North of Porirua as the cloud/wind etc tends to stick to the hills around Johnsonville/Tawa etc.

You'll find that's why there are so many ex pats on the Kapiti Coast, better weather and the commute is about an hour on the train and 30-40 mins by car (in Kiwi terms it's like flying to the moon to go to work but it's all relative!)

[seattle]

I have been here a year and the ranges seams to break down to sucky, mostly sucky, mostly sucky to partly crappy, partly crappy and 1 out of 30 days is clear and sunny—to partly crappy.

[Mrs Pony]

Since I've moved here I've heard, many times, "You don't move to Wellington for the weather"

I can't say that I enjoy the weather here... but I've been dealing, since we moved from Florida in the US.

The only thing I really hate about it the cold is that with most homes, it's just as cold inside as it is outside. In Florida we had 2 seasons. Hot and Hotter. Here is seems to be Cold/Rainy, Cold/Windy or all 3 at the same time...

I've also heard people joking about how how one of their favorite days of the year is Summer... (which apparently was this past Sat)

[IanW99]

...
I've also heard people joking about how how one of their favorite days of the year is Summer... (which apparently was this past Sat)

If the current weather forcast is correct, plenty of summer from today

Although clearly not the hot and hotter of Florida.

Ian