Average March Rainfall for New Zealand

The tables below list monthly averages for rainfall during March at cities, towns, beaches and islands throughout New Zealand.

Each place has a total for how many days of wet weather it usually gets a year and for the normal amount of precipitation. The calculation of days only includes the days when rain totalled at least one millimetre (0.04 inches).

The month's precipitation statistics are long-term historical averages of weather data collected during 1991 to 2020.

North Island

Average monthly precipitation in March
Days Place Inches Milli­metres
8 Auckland 3.0 75
7 Cape Reinga 2.9 74
9 Gisborne 3.7 93
9 Great Barrier Island 5.3 134
7 Hamilton 3.0 75
10 Kaikohe 4.7 119
8 Kaitaia 3.3 85
9 Kerikeri 5.3 136
8 Masterton 2.8 70
7 Napier 2.4 62
9 New Plymouth 3.6 91
8 Palmerston North 2.3 57
8 Rotorua 3.9 100
7 Taupo 2.6 66
8 Tauranga 3.7 95
8 Thames 3.4 86
8 Waiheke Island 3.7 95
8 Wellington 3.9 100
11 Whakapapa Village, Tongariro 6.3 161
7 Whangaparaoa 3.5 88
9 Whangarei 4.7 119
10 Whitianga 5.1 129
7 Whanganui 2.1 52

South Island

March averages for total rainfall
Days Place Inches Milli­metres
6 Akaroa 2.7 68
12 Arthur's Pass 12.6 321
5 Blenheim 1.6 39
6 Christchurch 1.7 44
8 Dunedin 2.1 54
6 Farewell Spit 3.0 77
12 Franz Josef 15.6 397
12 Greymouth 6.9 175
10 Invercargill 3.0 76
7 Kaikoura  2.6 66
9 Lake Rotoiti 4.8 121
5 Lake Tekapo 1.1 29
10 Manapouri 3.3 83
14 Milford Sound 22.5 571
11 Mt Cook 12.4 315
6 Nelson 2.8 71
7 Queenstown 2.4 60
18 Secretary Island 13.8 352
6 Timaru 1.5 39
12 Westport 5.6 143

Other Islands

Rainfall averages for March
Days Place Inches Milli­metres
17 Auckland Islands 4.3 110
20 Campbell Island 4.9 124
11 Chatham Island 3.0 76
12 Raoul Island  6.1 155
15 Stewart Island, Oban 5.5 139
Reference

NIWA (New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research). The National Climate Database.

New Zealand Rainfall
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