Weather in Palmerston North in April

A good month. April works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 18.6 °C, lows 10.3 °C, and rain falls on 11 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

April ranks 5 of 12 in Palmerston North: past the worst of the year but short of January, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 11 days, 3 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 April reaches 30 °C. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest April day reached 25.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 3.7 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 48 mm — roughly 62% of the month's rain in one day.

April is moderately variable: 28 mm in the driest year against 190 mm in the wettest, around an average of 78 mm. Roughly two Aprils in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 11.8 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 83%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How April sits in the year

The month is on the way down: 3.3 °C cooler than March, with May dropping another 3.1 °C. The first week and the last are not the same trip.

Daylight in April

11.1 hours of daylight, losing 1.2 hours across the month. That is between Palmerston North's extremes of 15 and 9.3 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 17.7 °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.

April in Palmerston North versus nearby

If Palmerston North is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Wellington is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.4 °C cooler, 1 day less rain. Taupo is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

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

Every month in Palmerston North

See all twelve months in Palmerston North, or where else to go in April.