Papeete climate
Papeete is warmest in March, with average highs of 29 °C, and coldest in August, when nights average 24 °C. December is the wettest month (316 mm) and July the driest (68 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Papeete averages 1,952 mm of rain and 356 days above 25 °C.
French Polynesia · population 26,357 · 1991–2020 normals
Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month
- Warmest month March 29 °C
- Coldest month August 24 °C
- Driest month July 68 mm
- Wettest month December 316 mm
- Least cloud August 43 % cloud
- Hottest on record March 31 °C
- Coldest on record August 19 °C
- Warmest sea March 29 °C
What to expectPapeete through the year
Papeete changes little through the year. Average daily highs stay between 26 and 29 °C, so no month stands out as a season in the way it would further from the equator.
Counted across a normal year, 356 days a year reach 25 °C, 2 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C, in March.
Rain is strongly seasonal. December averages 316 mm against 68 mm in July — 4.6 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
The sea off Papeete is warmest in March at 29 °C and coldest in August at 26 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.
Month by month
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28.3 °C | 281 mm | 72 % |
| February | 28.5 °C | 257 mm | 68 % |
| March | 28.8 °C | 208 mm | 63 % |
| April | 28.6 °C | 164 mm | 59 % |
| May | 28.0 °C | 123 mm | 53 % |
| June | 27.2 °C | 93 mm | 46 % |
| July | 26.6 °C | 68 mm | 43 % |
| August | 26.4 °C | 69 mm | 43 % |
| September | 26.6 °C | 85 mm | 46 % |
| October | 27.1 °C | 129 mm | 53 % |
| November | 27.7 °C | 158 mm | 61 % |
| December | 28.1 °C | 316 mm | 72 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28.3 °C | 26.1 °C | 27.1 °C | 30.7 °C | 23.5 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 28.5 °C | 26.3 °C | 27.3 °C | 30.8 °C | 23.5 °C | 28 | 1 | 0 |
| March | 28.8 °C | 26.6 °C | 27.6 °C | 31.2 °C | 23.3 °C | 31 | 1 | 0 |
| April | 28.6 °C | 26.6 °C | 27.5 °C | 30.8 °C | 23.9 °C | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 28.0 °C | 26.0 °C | 26.9 °C | 30.0 °C | 22.0 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 27.2 °C | 25.3 °C | 26.1 °C | 29.7 °C | 20.8 °C | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 26.6 °C | 24.8 °C | 25.5 °C | 28.6 °C | 19.8 °C | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 26.4 °C | 24.4 °C | 25.2 °C | 28.9 °C | 19.2 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 26.6 °C | 24.6 °C | 25.4 °C | 29.0 °C | 19.8 °C | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 27.1 °C | 25.0 °C | 25.8 °C | 29.0 °C | 20.7 °C | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 27.7 °C | 25.6 °C | 26.5 °C | 29.9 °C | 22.2 °C | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 28.1 °C | 25.9 °C | 26.9 °C | 30.5 °C | 23.2 °C | 31 | 0 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 281 mm | 25 | 13 h/day | 72 % | 85 % | 25 km/h | 28.3 °C |
| February | 257 mm | 23 | 13 h/day | 68 % | 84 % | 25 km/h | 28.6 °C |
| March | 208 mm | 22 | 12 h/day | 63 % | 84 % | 24 km/h | 28.9 °C |
| April | 164 mm | 19 | 12 h/day | 59 % | 83 % | 24 km/h | 28.7 °C |
| May | 123 mm | 17 | 11 h/day | 53 % | 82 % | 26 km/h | 28.1 °C |
| June | 93 mm | 14 | 11 h/day | 46 % | 80 % | 28 km/h | 27.5 °C |
| July | 68 mm | 12 | 11 h/day | 43 % | 79 % | 28 km/h | 26.8 °C |
| August | 69 mm | 12 | 12 h/day | 43 % | 79 % | 27 km/h | 26.4 °C |
| September | 85 mm | 13 | 12 h/day | 46 % | 80 % | 28 km/h | 26.4 °C |
| October | 129 mm | 16 | 12 h/day | 53 % | 82 % | 27 km/h | 26.8 °C |
| November | 158 mm | 19 | 13 h/day | 61 % | 83 % | 25 km/h | 27.5 °C |
| December | 316 mm | 25 | 13 h/day | 72 % | 85 % | 25 km/h | 28.1 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Papeete.
QuestionsCommon questions about Papeete’s climate
When is the best time to visit Papeete?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. July, August, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, March is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Papeete get?
In March, the warmest month, daily highs average 29 °C. About 2 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 24 °C in August, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in Papeete?
December, averaging 316 mm over 25 days with rain. The driest month is July with 68 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,952 mm.
Are these figures a forecast?
No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Papeete rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.
Data sources and method
- ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
- Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
- NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
- GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0
- Normal period
- 1991–2020
- Data point
- -17.535°, -149.568° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
- Dataset version
- era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
- Last processed
Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.
Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.