Overview
| Temperature | Temperatures were below average (0.51-1.20°C below average) or well below average (>1.20°C below average) for much of the North Island to the south of central Waikato and the western Bay of Plenty, as well as northern, eastern, and southern parts of the South Island. Temperatures were above average (0.51-1.20°C above average) or well above average (>1.20°C above average) for western parts of the South Island. Temperatures were near average (±0.50°C of average) in northern parts of the North Island, Tasman, western and central Otago, and southern Southland. |
| Rainfall | Below normal (50-79% of normal) or well below normal (<50% of normal) rainfall was observed across western, inland, and southern parts of the South Island, Marlborough, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Auckland, and southern Northland. Above normal (120-149% of normal) or well above normal (>149% of normal) rainfall was observed across eastern parts of Canterbury, Nelson, and northern Northland. |
| Soil Moisture | At the end of January, soil moisture levels were lower than normal for much of Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, the West Coast, and Stewart Island. Areas of meteorological drought were present in northern parts of the Ruapehu District according to the New Zealand Drought Index. Soil moisture levels were higher than normal for northern parts of Northland, coastal Gisborne, Banks Peninsula, and central Southland. |
January 2025 was characterised by lower than normal mean sea level pressure (MSLP) to the east of Aotearoa New Zealand, with more southeasterly airflows than normal. This contributed to temperatures that were below average (0.51-1.20°C below average) or well below average (>1.20°C below average) across much of the country, including southern Waikato, eastern Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, southern Taranaki, Manawatū-Whanganui, Wairarapa, Kāpiti Coast, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, eastern Otago, and inland Southland. In contrast, temperatures were above average (0.51-1.20°C above average) or well above average (>1.20°C above average) throughout the West Coast and Fiordland. Temperatures were near average (±0.50°C of average) for Northland, Auckland, northern parts of Waikato and Taranaki, Tasman, western and central Otago, and southern Southland. The nationwide average temperature in January 2025 was 16.4°C. This was 0.8°C below the 1991-2020 January average from NIWA’s seven station temperature series which begins in 1909, and New Zealand’s coldest January since 2017.
It was a dry month for many parts of the country, with below normal (50-79% of normal) or well below normal (<50% of normal) rainfall for the West Coast, much of Southland, southern and inland Otago, Marlborough, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Auckland, and southern Northland. Rainfall totals for the month were above normal (120-149% of normal) or well above normal (>149% of normal) for eastern parts of Canterbury including Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, Nelson, and much of northern Northland. Rainfall totals were generally near normal (80-119% of normal) elsewhere.
Sunshine was abundant for western parts of the South Island. Hokitika recorded 328 hours of sunshine, making it the town’s sunniest January since records began in 1912. Farther north, Greymouth recorded 302 hours of sunshine, which was the town’s highest January sunshine total since records began in 1947. It was also a relatively sunny month in Dunedin (256 sunshine hours) and Invercargill (260 sunshine hours), with these cities observing their third-highest and fourth-highest January sunshine totals, respectively.
Further Highlights:
- The highest temperature was 32.4°C, observed at Kawerau on 24 January.
- The lowest temperature was -0.4°C, observed at Waipara River North Branch on 25 January.
- The highest 1-day rainfall was 85 mm, recorded at Kaikohe on 20 January.
- The highest wind gust was 135 km/h, observed at Puysegur Point on 28 January, and South West Cape on 29 January.
- Of the six main centres in January 2025, Auckland was the warmest, Hamilton was the driest, Tauranga was the sunniest, Dunedin was the coolest, and Christchurch was the wettest and least sunny.
- Of the available, regularly reporting sunshine observation sites, the sunniest four locations so far in 2025 are West Coast (328 hours), Taranaki (318 hours), Bay of Plenty (310 hours) and Mackenzie Country (302 hours).
