Weather in Timaru in February

Prime time. February is about as good as Timaru gets. Highs average 19.6 °C, lows 13.5 °C, and rain falls on 8 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

February is the highest-scoring month of the twelve. The nearest rival is March, and the month at the other end of the year is July.

Rain on 8 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 February reaches 30 °C. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest February day reached 28.2 °C and the coldest night fell to 8.3 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 49 mm — roughly 96% of the month's rain in one day.

February is moderately variable: 16 mm in the driest year against 140 mm in the wettest, around an average of 51 mm. Roughly two Februarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 13.2 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 74%.

How February sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 19.7 °C in January, 19.6 here, 18.4 in March. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in February

13.9 hours of daylight, losing 1.4 hours across the month. That is between Timaru's extremes of 15.5 and 8.9 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 15.3 °C in February — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. This is the warmest the water gets all year.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead. If the dates are flexible, April is the trade worth considering — 14 points weaker on weather, and materially quieter.

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

February in Timaru versus nearby

If Timaru is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Christchurch is close enough to be a coin toss — 4.4 °C warmer, 1 day more rain. Waikowhai is the weaker option in February — within a degree on temperature, 5 days more rain.

So: February is the answer for Timaru. If it is booked out or priced out, March is the next best thing at 4 points behind, and July is the month to keep off the shortlist.

Every month in Timaru

See all twelve months in Timaru, or where else to go in February.