Rotorua weather by month & the best time to visit

🇳🇿 New Zealand · small town · oceanic / maritime climate

The best time to visit Rotorua is January — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 78/100), with February and March close behind. Rotorua averages about 2,193 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 23°C / 73°F and roughly 72 mm of rain in January.

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Sun hours / year

2,193

Sunniest month

January

Peak score

78/100

Rain / year

1,072 mm

Midday UV at peak

10 (very high)

Population

66k

Elevation

286 m

When is the best time to visit Rotorua?

For sunshine, the best time to visit Rotorua is January, then February and March. The dullest month is July (18/100, 113 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.

How sunny is Rotorua?

Rotorua gets a moderate 2,193 hours of sunshine a year. 60 Sunshine Score points separate January (78) from July (18), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #21 of 26 destinations in New Zealand for annual sunshine, below the national median of 2,342 hours. The year's 1,072 mm of rain spreads fairly evenly across the months, with no pronounced dry season.

Sunshine Score by month

See Rotorua on the interactive sunshine globe →

Nearby places for sunshine

• Tauranga New Zealand · 50 km · best in Jan · 2,513 h sun/yr
• Napier New Zealand · 158 km · best in Feb · 2,256 h sun/yr
• Auckland New Zealand · 182 km · best in Jan · 2,479 h sun/yr
• New Plymouth New Zealand · 211 km · best in Jan · 2,321 h sun/yr
• Palmerston North New Zealand · 253 km · best in Jan · 2,196 h sun/yr
• Wellington New Zealand · 380 km · best in Feb · 2,510 h sun/yr

Nearest destinations

• Whakatāne New Zealand · 57 km · 2,513 h sun/yr · best in Nov
• Taupo New Zealand · 73 km · 2,194 h sun/yr · best in Feb
• Hamilton (New Zealand) New Zealand · 90 km · 2,216 h sun/yr · best in Nov
• Gisborne New Zealand · 157 km · 2,202 h sun/yr · best in Nov