Wanaka weather by month & the best time to visit
🇳🇿 New Zealand · small town · oceanic / maritime climate
The best time to visit Wanaka is February — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 75/100), with January close behind. Wanaka averages about 2,430 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 21°C / 70°F and roughly 101 mm of rain in February.
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- Sun hours / year
- 2,430
- Sunniest month
- February
- Peak score
- 75/100
- Rain / year
- 1,382 mm
- Snow / year
- ≈18 cm
- Midday UV at peak
- 8 (very high)
- Population
- 13k
- Elevation
- 349 m
When is the best time to visit Wanaka?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Wanaka is February, then January. The dullest month is June (0/100, 115 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Wanaka?
Wanaka gets a moderate 2,430 hours of sunshine a year. 75 Sunshine Score points separate February (75) from June (0), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #9 of 26 destinations in New Zealand for annual sunshine, above the national median of 2,342 hours. The year's 1,382 mm of rain spreads fairly evenly across the months, with no pronounced dry season.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69 | 21° / 70°F | 10° / 50°F | 134 mm | 8 |
| February | 75 | 21° / 70°F | 10° / 50°F | 101 mm | 7 |
| March | 62 | 18° / 64°F | 9° / 48°F | 104 mm | 5 |
| April | 44 | 15° / 59°F | 6° / 43°F | 101 mm | 3 |
| May | 18 | 11° / 52°F | 4° / 39°F | 124 mm | 1 |
| June | 0 | 8° / 46°F | 2° / 36°F | 115 mm | 1 |
| July | 0 | 7° / 45°F | 1° / 34°F | 105 mm | 1 |
| August | 6 | 9° / 48°F | 2° / 36°F | 101 mm | 2 |
| September | 24 | 12° / 54°F | 3° / 37°F | 121 mm | 3 |
| October | 35 | 14° / 57°F | 5° / 41°F | 123 mm | 4 |
| November | 54 | 17° / 63°F | 7° / 45°F | 117 mm | 6 |
| December | 63 | 19° / 66°F | 9° / 48°F | 136 mm | 8 |
See Wanaka on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Dunedin New Zealand · 153 km · best in Feb · 2,093 h sun/yr
- Invercargill New Zealand · 202 km · best in Feb · 1,949 h sun/yr
- Christchurch New Zealand · 296 km · best in Feb · 2,377 h sun/yr
- Blenheim New Zealand · 517 km · best in Feb · 2,486 h sun/yr
- Wellington New Zealand · 589 km · best in Feb · 2,510 h sun/yr
- Palmerston North New Zealand · 715 km · best in Jan · 2,196 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Queenstown New Zealand · 51 km · 2,268 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Westport New Zealand · 382 km · 2,175 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Nelson New Zealand · 499 km · 2,486 h sun/yr · best in Feb
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