Weather in Dunedin in December

Shoulder season. December is shoulder season in Dunedin — cheaper, quieter, and a genuine gamble. Highs average 15.2 °C, lows 10.7 °C, and rain falls on 14 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 5 of 12 in Dunedin: past the worst of the year but short of February, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

This is persistent light rain rather than storms: 14 wet days but only 1 heavy ones. It rarely cancels anything outright, and it rarely fully clears either. A jacket beats an umbrella. Pack for 15.2 °C days and 10.7 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 4.5 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 23.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 6.3 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 26 mm — roughly 39% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 18 mm in the driest year against 137 mm in the wettest, around an average of 66 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind sits around 17.5 km/h — a steady breeze rather than a nuisance, and welcome on the warmer days, and humidity runs at 80%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 13.8 °C in November, 15.2 here, 16.4 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Dunedin's year: 15.7 hours of daylight, holding steady all month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 11.5 °C in December — too cold to swim without a wetsuit. The sea peaks at 13 °C in February and bottoms out at 8.7 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Busy. Popular without being frantic; book the things you care about, improvise the rest.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Dunedin versus nearby

If Dunedin is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Papatowai is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.3 °C warmer, 1 day more rain. Wanaka is close enough to be a coin toss — 4 °C warmer, 2 days more rain.

So: December works, with February the better month by 9 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Dunedin

See all twelve months in Dunedin, or where else to go in December.