Weather in Nelson in November

A good month. November works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 19.8 °C, lows 10.1 °C, and rain falls on 13 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

November ranks 4 of 12 in Nelson: past the worst of the year but short of February, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 13 days, 1 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: it never really gets hot: not one day in an average November reaches 30 °C. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 28.6 °C and the coldest night fell to 2.9 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 34 mm — roughly 52% of the month's rain in one day.

November is moderately variable: 16 mm in the driest year against 176 mm in the wettest, around an average of 66 mm. Roughly two Novembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 5.1 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 78%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How November sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 2.6 °C warmer than October, and December adds another 2.6 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in November

14.4 hours of daylight, gaining 1 hours across the month. That is between Nelson's extremes of 15.1 and 9.2 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 20.1 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

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.

November in Nelson versus nearby

If Nelson is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Wellington is the weaker option in November — 4.3 °C cooler, 3 days less rain. Greymouth is the weaker option in November — 3.8 °C cooler, 3 days more rain.

So: November works, with February the better month by 7 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Nelson

See all twelve months in Nelson, or where else to go in November.