Climate Lesson

Dunedin is on the East Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is classified as temperate, and might be considered similar to San Francisco. Weather is very changeable (remember this adjective if you ever visit and are considering what to pack); you can often have four seasons in one day.

Dunedin climate, historical averages.

Temperature, celsius	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
Previous Averages	14.7	14.7	13.4	10.7	7.6	4.9	4.8	6.5	8.6	10.5	11.9	13.8	10.2

Rainfall, millimeters	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
Previous Averages	70	41	61	54	59	48	45	50	47	57	57	70	55

Wind Run, kms	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
Previous Averages	168	156	156	144	156	132	132	144	168	180	180	168	157

Sunshine, hours	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
Previous Averages	174	165	143	128	99	98	100	122	134	162	169	182

 * 1749 to 2003 (http://www.climate.co.nz/)

The hills that surround the city mean that the lowland town area is often more sheltered, whereas up here on Pine Hill, or Mt. Cargill it can get pretty windy. With our hills and valleys you can get anabatic and katabatic winds. Mt Cargill can trap the rain coming in from the Southeast, and leave the other side completely sunny in the Mt's rain shadow. This results in the roadtrip effect . . . whereby as people return from holiday in central otago or further up the coast, and come over the hill into Dunedin, inexplicably it starts to rain :)

The average yearly rainfall is 660mm, but feels like more because it tends to arrive as a mist/drizzle that persists. Of the main centers in NZ, Dunedin is the coolest, as it's found the furthest South.

Read the Dunedin City Council's Report on Dunedin and Climate Change by University of Otago Emeritus Professor of Geography Professor Blair Fitzharris. Dunedin may be one city that superficially benefits from a temperature increase--but what's going to happen to Logan Park and all that reclaimed land down by the harbour?

In the meantime, here's the view from my parents' house on a typical day :) Mist, rain, rainbows (out of my chosen window/view), cloud, sun, wind. No hail or snow as yet, but it is supposedly summer. Photos probably aren't in order.