Weather in Te Anau in November

A hard month. November is a hard month in Te Anau, and worth planning around. You should expect rain on 20 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

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

Rain on 20 of the month's 30 days, 7 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at 14.5 °C the difference between a good day and a miserable one is entirely down to what you are wearing.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 24.3 °C and the coldest night fell to -1.1 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 56 mm — roughly 31% of the month's rain in one day.

November is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest November on record still delivered 338 mm against 76 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 183 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 11.6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 86%, which at 14.5 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How November sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 2 °C warmer than October, and December adds another 2.4 °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

14.8 hours of daylight, gaining 1.2 hours across the month. That is between Te Anau's extremes of 15.6 and 8.7 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 14.5 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

How busy it gets

Shoulder. The value months — prices ease off and you get the place closer to itself. November is the value pick for Te Anau: it scores within 11 points of January without carrying January's prices.

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

November in Te Anau versus nearby

If Te Anau is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Queenstown is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days less rain. Invercargill is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days less rain.

So: November works, with January the better month by 11 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Te Anau

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