How Many Rainy Days Does New Zealand Actually Get? A City-by-City Look

October 17, 2026

Short answer: New Zealand's biggest cities see measurable rain on roughly one day in three. Auckland averages about 132 rain days a year and Wellington about 124, using the 1991–2020 climate averages. A "rain day" here means at least 1 mm of rain, so plenty of those days are showers rather than all-day downpours — which is exactly what makes them awkward to plan around.

Kiwi weather: sun at 8, sideways rain by 10.

Rain days per year: a quick comparison

City	Days with 1 mm+ rain per year	Period
Auckland	132	1991–2020
Wellington	124	1991–2020
Tauranga	110	1991–2020
Dunedin	about 114	1981–2010
Queenstown	about 97	1981–2010
Christchurch	about 84	1981–2010

Note: the periods differ between rows because the figures come from two NIWA-based datasets, so treat the comparison as a guide rather than a ranking to the decimal.

When is the wet season?

In Auckland, the wettest months by number of rain days are June to August. July is the peak at around 15 rain days, against roughly 7 in January and February. In other words, winter can have about twice as many wet days as summer.

Wellington follows a similar pattern, with winter months the wettest, and it adds wind on top, so rain there often arrives sideways.

Why "a wet day" is not the same as "a soaked day"

Because the threshold is only 1 mm, a rain day might mean a ten-minute shower on the school run. That matters for footwear: the common problem is not wading through floods, it is stepping into a puddle on the way to a bus stop, or walking across wet grass at 7 a.m. Short, frequent exposure is what wears down a pair of shoes that is only "water-resistant".

What this means for your shoes

Rotate pairs in winter. If you walk to work on 12–15 wet days a month, a single pair never fully dries between wears. Two pairs, alternated, last longer and smell better.
Look at the construction, not the label. A shoe with a sealed waterproof membrane behaves very differently from one with a spray-on coating that fades.
Breathability counts as much as waterproofing. If sweat can't escape, your socks end up damp from the inside anyway — see are waterproof shoes breathable?
Dry them gently. Leave wet shoes to air dry away from heaters; direct heat can damage adhesives and membranes. Our guide to drying wet shoes has the step-by-step.

This is the thinking behind our own ZEA-TEX™ layered construction: a breathable knit outer, a waterproof membrane, a flexible elastomer layer and a soft lining, designed for rain, puddles and wet paths rather than for submerging. If you'd like to see how it plays out day to day, our Tasman Essentials are built around it.

Frequently asked questions

Which New Zealand city gets the most rain days?

Among the major cities, Auckland has one of the highest counts at about 132 rain days a year (1991–2020). West Coast locations such as Hokitika and Westport are wetter still, at well over 170 rain days a year on older averages.

Which months are wettest in Auckland?

June, July and August. July averages around 15 days with at least 1 mm of rain.

Is Wellington wetter than Auckland?

Wellington has slightly fewer rain days than Auckland, but a similar annual rainfall total and much stronger wind, so it often feels wetter.

Do waterproof shoes work in a typical NZ shower?

Shoes with a sealed membrane are designed for exactly that: showers, puddles and wet grass. They are not designed to be fully submerged, and water can still enter over the top of the shoe in very deep puddles.

Sources

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