Weather in Waikowhai in December

Shoulder season. December sits in between. You will get good days and you will lose some. You should expect rain on 17 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

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

This is wet-season rain: 17 wet days and 7 genuinely heavy ones, which in this climate means concentrated downpours rather than all-day grey. The pattern is usually a clear morning and a loud afternoon, so front-load the day and stop fighting the 3pm hour. Pack for 17.6 °C days and 12.2 °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 — 5.4 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 25.7 °C and the coldest night fell to 5.5 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 91 mm — roughly 46% of the month's rain in one day.

December is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest December on record still delivered 325 mm against 98 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 197 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 10.8 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 85%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 15.6 °C in November, 17.6 here, 18.9 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Waikowhai's year: 15.4 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 15.8 °C in December — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. The sea peaks at 17.8 °C in February and bottoms out at 12.9 °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 Waikowhai versus nearby

If Waikowhai is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Wanaka is a better bet in December — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain. Greymouth is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day more rain.

So: December works, with February the better month by 13 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Waikowhai

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