The diversified climate of New Zealand varies from the warm tropical climate to the temperate climate that is occasionally interrupted by severe alpine conditions in several mountainous areas. While the tropical conditions are dominant in the north part of the country, the climate of the far south is characteristically marked by temperate conditions.
Another stark climatic condition that exists in New Zealand is that while the west is the wettest the areas lying to the east are the driest. The long chain of mountains that stretches for several hundreds kilometers prevalent the westerly winds. This divides the entire country into several climatic regions. Temperature
The mean annual temperature ranges from 10 degrees Celsius in the north to 16 degrees in the south. While the coldest month is July, the warmest month is January r February.
Though the temperatures in the summer and the winters vary to a very small a extent, the temperature between the inland areas and the eastern part of the country vary greatly. Rainfall
New Zealand experiences rainfall between 600 mm and 1600 mm. Though the land remains dry during the summers rainfall occurs all throughout the year. The northern and the central part of New Zealand have more of their rainfall in the winters than in the summers. Sunshine and snowfall
Most part of the country except the west experiences long hours of sunshine. The mid day solar radiation index is high in most of the places and it is often extreme in the distant north. Autumn and springs also have long hours of sunshine.
It snow only in the mountainous areas with rare snowfall occurring in the coastal areas. The eastern and the southern part of the South Island have snowfall in the winters. Frosts is a regular occurrence that forms on cold nights marked with clear skies and little wind.
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