NIWA

New Zealand climate

Many aspects of New Zealand climate are studied under the Climate Present and Past project. Some of these are under other headings on this webpage, such as Palaeoclimate, Historic Climate, Southern Alps Glaciers, and Indices and Data. Here, the topics covered are climate extremes, synoptic types, and climate trends.

Click on the thumbnails below to read about the different topics and see the research carried out by NIWA scientists under Climate Present and Past.

Extremes

Although New Zealand is located in a temperate region, the country still experiences extreme climatic conditions from time to time.

Synoptic types

New Zealand is affected by weather systems which originate over the seas around the country, which can be characterised as 12 daily weather types.

Trends

The Earth’s climate experiences changes caused by natural fluctuations as well as human influences. These result in trends over time for different climatic variables.