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Christchurch has an oceanic / temperate climate.
Mild and damp year-round, with no real extremes — here's what that means in plain terms.
What this climate feels like
The four things a regular visitor actually wants to know:
Highs near 72°F in July.
Lows near 34°F in January.
About 33 in of rain a year. Wettest in November.
Cloudy skies much of the year.
What "oceanic / temperate" means
Climate scientists sort every place on Earth into about 30 climate types, based on how hot, cold, wet and dry it is across the year. Christchurch's type — oceanic / temperate — sits in the broad family of mild, temperate climates.
Researchers write climate types as a short letter code. Here is what each letter means:
Cities with the same climate as Christchurch
An oceanic / temperate climate (Cfb) — these recognizable cities share it. If you know one of them, you know roughly what to expect.
Has Christchurch's climate type changed?
Stable — Christchurch's climate has held the same type between the 1971–2000 and 1991–2020 normals. The label is steady; the climate beneath it is still warming.
What this climate means for you
Lawns and broadleaf trees thrive; heat-loving crops (tomatoes, peppers, melons) struggle without help. Famous for roses, leafy greens and apples.
Late spring through early autumn is the best window for outdoor travel. Winters are wet and grey but rarely brutally cold.
The 'comfortable' climate — no real extremes, but grey and damp through much of the year. Heating is needed in winter; AC is often unnecessary.
Where these numbers come from
The climate type and the month-by-month figures on this page are computed from Christchurch's measured 30-year climate normals (1991–2020) — the same official records behind Christchurch's main climate page, so the two always agree.
Long-range climate maps measure things slightly differently and can place a city in a neighbouring category. Where they differ, this page uses the measured station record as the climate today.
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 30 years of daily observations at Bournemouth, a weather station, about 7 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.