Climate and Weather of the Cook Islands
On average, the Cook Islands experience moderate to tropical climate all year-round with pleasantly warm summers and muggy winters. Situated in the center of the Polynesian Triangle, the Cook Islands share the same time zone with Hawaii at UTC/GMT-10.In the Cook Islands, although there are no true wet or dry seasons, there is a noticeably wetter stretch from December to May. During the dryer period from June to November temperatures average at 26°C, spanning over seven months of mild sunshine. In spite of the warm weather, the Cook Islands is mostly windy all year-round, making it less humid than other tropical islands at this time of the year.
Meanwhile, the warm season runs from November to April when temperatures average from 22°C at night to as high as 31°C during the day. Warm season is when elevated levels of humidity are expected and occasional rainfall or precipitation occurs. There is nothing to worry about rainfall in the Cook Islands as it occurs mostly in the morning or in the afternoon only for a short amount of time.
Spread out over 850,000 square miles of the ocean, the fifteen islands that comprise the Cooks Islands are divided geographically into six Northern Islands and nine Southern Islands. The climate at the Cook Islands is moderate to tropical, although average temperatures and weather conditions may slightly differ for every island. To give a general overview of the climate in terms of geography, the following questions are addressed below.
What's the weather like in Northern Cook Islands?
Northern Cook Islands experience moderate to gusty winds, occasional rainfall, and thunderstorms. This is because the Northern part is somehow affected by low pressure in the air. Over the course of the year, Northern Cook Islands still gets adequate amounts of sunlight, making it an ideal tourist destination regardless of the time of the year.
What's the weather like in Southern Cook Islands?
Southern Cook Islands is where the capital, Avarua, is located. Climate is similar to the ones experienced by the Northern Cook Islands with gusty winds, mild sunshine, and, in the worst cases, isolated thunderstorms.
Are you interested in more detailed information for various cities in the Cook Islands?
Please select the city you plan to visit, or one closest to your destination. For each selected city, you will see the following graphs:
1. Yearly average minimum and maximum temperatures
2. Monthly averages of precipitation throughout the year (rainfall, snow etc)
3. Monthly average hours of sunshine throughout the year
Additionally, some pages provide historical weather data such as humidity, wind speed, and water temperature.