Hamilton City, lying on the Waikato River in Central Basin Waikato enjoys a hospitable climate year round with warm, humid summers and cool to mild winters. Moderate rainfall.
The perfect ingredients for world-class dairy farming and intensive horticulture.

Fog is a infamous feature of Hamilton's winter mornings, however they can occur at any time of year - an airport nightmare. Fog in Hamilton is most common about the river, the extensive gully system and rural areas. FACT: Hamilton is the foggiest city in New Zealand. Towns that are foggier include Taumarunui (King Country/Ruapehu District) and Reefton (Southeast of Westport, South Island).

Frost during winter is a common sight in the city as the regional geography is perfect for frost development. The nil-presence of large-bodied water always mean that Hamilton is colder during the night than places like Auckland, Tauranga, Raglan and even Rotorua at times - despite it's elevation. FACT: No other New Zealand city has recorded a temperature below Hamilton's record of -9.9°C!

Wind predominates in either a west or southwesterly direction. Hamilton's inland and low location means we are quite sheltered from gale-force winds found near the coasts and altitudes. Northerlies often bring humid-warm weather, northeasterlies - scattered rain usually, easterlies - partly cloudy skies, southeasterlies - variable with either rain, fine-hot-dry, or thunderstorms, southerlies - dry sunny skies, cool, southwesterlies - normally cloud, westerlies - fine or cloudy with showers, northwesterlies normally mean heavy rain and often thunderstorms. FACT: Hamilton is the NZ city with the lowest wind speed averages.

Thunderstorms in the Waikato are numerous year-round with counts peaking in the November - December months. The greater-regional geography means conditions are ideally suited for thunderstorm development. Incoming moisture sources include the Firth of Thames, Bay of Plenty, and the Tasman Sea can all combine during times of light winds and the results can be potent once mixed with cold Antarctic air aloft. Southeast winds can bring a lot of moisture/evaporation at times from the Central North Island forests.
FACT: Hamilton is the most thundery city in New Zealand. Towns with more thunder-days include Milford, Haast, Westport and Greymouth/Hokitika.

As with thunderstorms, tornadoes are also possible if there's enough wind shear present in the troposphere. FACT: Hamilton is home to the most severe tornadoes in Australasia!
-Read about the great 1948 tornado here, with photos here.
-View my 'tornado' damage photos from September '05 here.