Weather in Wellington in January

Prime time. January is about as good as Wellington gets. Highs average 19.2 °C, lows 14.7 °C, and rain falls on 8 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

January ranks 2 of 12 in Wellington. Only February scores clearly higher, and the difference is small enough to be settled by price rather than weather.

Rain on 8 days, 2 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 January reaches 30 °C; the day barely swings — 4.5 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest January day reached 26.2 °C and the coldest night fell to 9.8 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 30 mm — roughly 59% of the month's rain in one day.

January is moderately variable: 10 mm in the driest year against 98 mm in the wettest, around an average of 51 mm. Roughly two Januarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind sits around 19.5 km/h — a steady breeze rather than a nuisance, and welcome on the warmer days, and humidity runs at 79%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How January sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 17.6 °C in December, 19.2 here, 19.5 in February. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in January

January is at or near the longest days of Wellington's year: 14.8 hours of daylight, losing 0.8 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 16 °C in January — 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.

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

January in Wellington versus nearby

If Wellington is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Nelson is close enough to be a coin toss — 5.7 °C warmer, 2 days more rain. Palmerston North is close enough to be a coin toss — 4.1 °C warmer, 2 days more rain.

So: January is effectively as good as it gets here — 2 points behind February, which is inside the margin where the weather stops being the deciding factor and price starts being it.

Every month in Wellington

See all twelve months in Wellington, or where else to go in January.