John Maunder


Temperatures have been recorded in the Tauranga area at several sites during the last 100 years, including the current Tauranga Airport site from June 1990.

The average afternoon temperature in December 2021 was 24.5 degrees Celsius the highest since records began in 1913.

The graph below shows details of the average daily maximum temperatures, called simply ‘afternoon’, for Tauranga for December from 1913-2021.

The long-term average afternoon temperature in December for Tauranga is 22.1 degrees Celsius, ranging from the ‘cool’ December months of 2004 (20.1), 1968 (20.5) and 1944 and 1951 (both 20.7), to the ‘warm’ December months of 2021 (24.5), 1940 (24.4), 2017 (24.3), 2019 (24.1), 1937 (24.0), and 1990 (23.8 degrees C).

The average December afternoon temperature during the 50 years from 1963 to 2011 of 22.2 degrees Celsius which is the same as that recorded in the 50 years from 1914 to 1961.

The average afternoon temperature of 23.5 degrees Celsius or more has been recorded 13 times since 1913, and twelve December months have had an average afternoon temperature of 21.0 degrees Celsius or less.

The sixth warmest December months (in terms of afternoon temperatures), on record, in chronological order, are 1937, 1940, 1990, 2017, 2019 and 2021.

By contrast, the seven coolest December months (in terms of afternoon temperatures), on record, in chronological order, are 1921, 1946, 1951, 1962, 1968, 1977, and 2004.


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