Weather in Canterbury

Calculated from weather data of Christchurch International Airport (NZCH) between 2020 and 2024.

Maximum temperatures (°C)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	23.5	24.6	22.5	22.3	23.3	23.1
February	22.9	22.6	23.8	20.5	22.6	24.5
March	20.3	18.8	19.8	19.8	21.5	19.8
April	17.9	18.1	17.3	18.0	20.1	18.8
May	15.2		16.0	16.1	15.5	15.0
June	11.9		12.4	13.0	12.1	12.0
July	11.8		12.0	10.8	12.1	11.5
August	13.2		12.4	13.9	13.0	13.8
September	15.5		16.3	14.8	15.9	16.8
October	17.4		17.6	17.1	17.3	19.1
November	19.9		18.8	20.6	19.3	19.3
December	21.6		22.0	21.0	20.8	21.5
Average	18.0	21.0	17.5	17.2	17.8	17.9

3rd highest temperature of New Zealand

Average highest temperature per day

The maximum temperature is typically observed some hours after noon.

Minimum temperatures (°C)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	13.2	13	14	13	13	12
February	12.0	11	13	12	12	12
March	10.5	9	10	11	11	10
April	7.2	6	9	7	7	7
May	5.1		7	6	4	5
June	3.4		5	3	5	4
July	2.5		2	3	3	2
August	3.0		1	4	4	3
September	4.8		6	5	4	4
October	6.7		7	6	8	8
November	9.4		8	11	10	9
December	11.8		12	12	13	10
Average	7.8	9.8	7.7	7.5	7.6	7.1

1st lowest temperature of New Zealand

Average lowest temperature per day

The minimum temperature is typically observed just before sunrise.

Cold and hot days

Number of days	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
30 °C or warmer	5	4	0	4	7
25 °C or warmer	23	37	18	35	35
20 °C or warmer	60	100	89	104	118
0 °C or colder	1	29	27	28	38

Precipitation (%)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	7.8	6	3	7	10	5
February	7.9	3	11	20	1	8
March	11.7	5	15	11	13	18
April	8.8	4	6	6	6	1
May	8.7		6	10	13	9
June	17.0		11	10	19	30
July	17.1		16	27	8	17
August	8.4		3	9	14	4
September	11.0		10	8	6	7
October	13.1		5	10	15	14
November	11.2		8	17	12	13
December	11.9		4	8	24	13
Average	10.5	4.6	7.9	11.8	11.7	11.1

Precipitation during daylight period

Percentage of observations with observed rain, drizzle, snow or hail. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Wind speed (km/h)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	23.1	24	24	22	23	22
February	21.9	21	22	20	21	23
March	20.4	23	20	19	19	23
April	18.0	17	18	17	19	18
May	14.8		14	13	17	15
June	14.0		16	14	13	15
July	14.7		15	15	16	14
August	16.1		17	16	18	16
September	19.3		21	18	19	20
October	20.6		22	21	22	21
November	21.3		22	21	22	22
December	22.4		22	21	21	22
Average	19.6	21.6	19.9	18.4	19.5	19.6

3rd highest wind speed of New Zealand

Average wind speed

Excluding wind gusts. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Prevailing wind direction

Month	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	NE	E	E	NE	E
February	E	E	E	E	E
March	SE	E	E	E	E
April	E	E	E	NE	NE
May		E	NE	E	NE
June		NE	N	SW	E
July		S	SW	E	E
August		E	E	NW	E
September		NW	NE	N	NW
October		NE	E	E	NE
November		E	NE	NE	E
December		NE	E	NE	E

Prevailing wind direction

Average wind direction, weighed by wind speed. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Canterbury weather Q&A

What is the warmest month in Canterbury?

The warmest month is January with an average temperature of 24 °C over the past years.

What is the coldest month in Canterbury?

The coldest month is July with an average daytime temperature of 12 °C in the past few years.

Which month is the wettest in Canterbury?

Chance of precipitation is the highest in July with a probability of around 17.1 %.

Which month is the driest in Canterbury?

The least rainfall and snow can be expected in January. The probability is about 7.9 %.