what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

Hi we will be arriving around june time so what i need to know is,,whats the weather going to be like will it be comming into winter then?? i need to know what sort of clothes to pack in our luggage as the rest will be being shipped with everything else im am used to winters of 2 degrees and above comming from oldham with lots of wind and frosty mornings,and sometimes a little snow lots of rain etc,, i am expecting the winter in welly to be a bit like a uk autumn temp, would that be about right???

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

winters will feel quite cold, but not snowing down to sea level, snow is possible on the rumitaka hills though. Temperatures will be mildish as long as there is cloud cover, which unfortunately is often. Temperatures dip at night, and because Wellington is located on a fault line(s), houses are built of wood, meaning very little to no insulation. So you will be cold indoors....thats the biggest problem with winters in New zealand, your always cold....Pack warm clothes...romantic and seductive outfits for bed will make way for sensible woolly pjs pretty soon....

Temps probably low teens during the day, but dipping to single digits during the night.

Gets dark at about 5-ish.

Wellington gets less rain than auckland, although it is always about 2 -3 degrees colder.

The worst of the wind is around autumn and spring, winter is relatively settled.

Summer is nice though

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

It's not usually bitter cold. We had quite a few frosts last winter, maybe -2 at the coldest.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/DSC05356.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...05490Large.jpg

But it was usually clear and sunny in the day

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/DSC05493.jpg

This is our roof steaming as the sun came out and melted the ice

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...05496Large.jpg

It can be bitterly cold when there's a Southerly wind - basically coming straight from the Antarctic - and often it rains sideways.
But it's not half as cold or nasty as the Kiwis make out.

Not wanting to bring up an old debate, but the only issue is if you have an un-insulated house because the temperature inside isn't much higher than outside. Before we got our insulation and new windows we could see our breath inside the house on a morning!!

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

brrrr, not used to low temp as yet

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

Most likely scenario is:
- the weather will not be as cold as it was in Oldham
- it will feel a lot colder in Wellington cos your house will be dark, damp, have paper thin walls, be poorly insulated , poorly heated or all of these.

Bring lots of jumpers, woolly hats, scarves and socks to wear in bed

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

makes me feel a little better about arriving in winter thanks for the pics aswell

gina

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

I wore 7 layers to bed in our first spring in this country mainly due to lack of insulation in 100 year old wooden shed (house) we rented!!!. The 4 heat pumps were little help and very expensive to run!!
Thermals are the essential kiwi winter requirement and also electric blankets- they do a roaring trade here!! So in summary unless you rent a brand new extremely well insulated, double glazed, heated house (all those together very rare) you will need to wrap up when in doors.

Lovely scenery though!!!

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

One word: Layers

Ok, I am physically incapable of saying one word when I can say 150 words.

Layer layer layer. This is particular important in wellington where in fact the actual temperature isn’t particularly (comparatively) cold that frequently but the wind chill factor can VERY VERY VERY cold. The wind is also what gets through your coat if it has gaps for zips and buttons. Hence layers are great.

Oh and houses are cold. Assuming that your house won’t have central heating and making an assumption that at least at the early stages while you are looking a rental property may not have any sort of heatpumps etc (v. likely), then invest in a couple of heaters with timers on them.

I have a 2000 watt oil heater and while it is not the most efficient use of energy for long term heating all winter it is great for taking the chill off a room in the morning. It won’t go to waste.

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

Definitely I am going to get a proper/efficient heater + Mitsubishi Dehumidifier before the winter season begins otherwise I am going to frozen dead at my flat :eek:

http://www.dvs.co.nz/warmer.htm


nz oil heater is worse than rubbish - nz is third world country - technologywise..

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

:D

(looking forward to a warmer "winter" in QLD)

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

Good to see the frost on the metal roof - means the insulation is good:thumbup:

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

It's some sort of concrete time thingies :) But we did add lots of extra insulation in there.

The salesman from DVS didn't recommend the heater - he said it takes the chill off the air but doesn't actually make the house warm.

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

I was meaning what looked like the tin roof in the first pic but yes your concrete one looked pretty snug too.

I recall some early mornings in AKL last winter with fog at 0 degrees, stopping off on the way to school to get the kids hot chocolate to take into school with them.

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

Oops, good point! That's next door's roof!

Re: what to expect from a wellington winter?
 

are you serious? :blink: my mate works for the company and I know the big boss/executive (?) is an old British guy. but I actually don't know anything about the company to be honest

I have no idea about heater stuffs in nz - where can I get a good efficient heater if not an oil heater?