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Christchurch weather history — trends, records & warming

Live conditions, the day's high and low compared with the long-term average, monthly climate averages, all-time records and the city's warming trend since 1940 — all on one page for Christchurch, New Zealand.

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Partly cloudy

Right now

8.4°

feels like
90%humidity
dew point
1 km/hfrom NE
sunrise07:56sunset17:00day length9h 04m
TodayOvercast12°
SunClear12°
MonPartly cloudy19°
TueClear12°
WedClear13°
ThuClear13°
FriLight rain11°

On this date — June 6

Today (forecast)
12° /
Average for June 6
10° /

Warmer than usual · 2.1°C above the average high

  • Record high: 16.8° · 1988
  • Record low: -1.5° · 2012
  • One year ago: 8.7°

Every June 6 in history — coldest to hottest

Daily highsDaily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each June 6 on record (n = 86). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Last 30 days

14 of the last 23 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +0.8°C.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year — the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

How it has changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +1.7°C.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.15°C per decade.

One point per year — the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Jun–Aug is warming fastest: +0.23°C per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 25°C per year: 0.4 early in the record → 2.9 recently. Frost days: 1 → 0.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

All-time high in 1973, all-time low in 1942: 29.7°C / -1.6°C.

One point per year — the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~623 mm/year on average. Last decade ran +10% vs that average.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record — ~30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

A typical year

Month-by-month averages — what a typical year looks like, from the full record.

Climate overview

The warmest month of the year in Christchurch is February, with a daily mean around 16.2°C and typical afternoon highs of 19.2°C. The coolest is July, when daily means drop to roughly 6.9°C and overnight lows hover around 4.8°C. Between the two extremes the climate moves through a fairly predictable seasonal cycle that you can see in the monthly chart below.

Total annual precipitation in Christchurch averages about 623 mm. The wettest month is usually July with around 58 mm of rain, while September is the driest at roughly 42 mm. The split between wet and dry seasons gives a quick sense of when umbrellas and waterproof shoes are most useful.

Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Christchurch has shifted by +1.7°C between the first decade and the last. The hottest single day in the record reached 29.7°C in 1973; the coldest, -1.6°C in 1942.

Monthly temperature range

February is the warmest month, July the coolest — a yearly swing of 9°C.

Each bar is the average daily low → average daily high for that month. Color shifts cool→warm by month temperature. The dot is the monthly mean. Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Monthly rainfall

Wettest month: July (~58 mm). Whole year averages ~623 mm of rain.

Average total millimetres of rainfall in each calendar month, across the full record.

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre — a measured proxy for how sunny the month is.

Monthly reference table

Numerical reference: average highs/lows, mean rainfall, and absolute records for each month of the year. Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainRecord highRecord low
January19.2°13.9°50 mm28.0° (1956)7.4° (2012)
February19.2°14.0°47 mm29.7° (1973)7.5° (1993)
March17.8°12.7°51 mm25.8° (1951)6.1° (1951)
April15.3°10.4°52 mm23.4° (2021)3.2° (1941)
May12.7°8.1°55 mm20.2° (2021)-0.4° (1959)
June10.1°5.6°54 mm17.7° (1988)-1.5° (2012)
July9.4°4.8°58 mm16.3° (2002)-1.6° (1942)
August10.1°5.4°52 mm17.0° (1994)-0.7° (1949)
September12.0°6.9°42 mm18.9° (1973)-0.1° (1946)
October14.1°8.8°54 mm21.8° (2020)2.6° (1948)
November16.1°10.7°53 mm23.6° (2008)3.4° (1976)
December17.9°12.6°56 mm27.2° (1955)6.4° (2006)

Christchurch — Frequently asked questions

Which is the warmest month in Christchurch?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Christchurch is February (mean about 16.2°C) and the coolest is July (about 6.9°C).
How does today's temperature in Christchurch compare to the historical average?
On 2026-06-06, Christchurch is forecast to reach a high of 12.4°C and a low of 8.4°C. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 10.3°C and a low of 5.7°C — today's high is 2.1°C warmer than that average.
How much has Christchurch warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Christchurch is about 1.7°C warmer.
How much does it rain in Christchurch?
Christchurch receives about 623 mm of precipitation per year on long-term average, with July typically the wettest month.