El Calafate weather in January

In January, El Calafate sees average daytime highs of 16°C and overnight lows near 7°C, with 54 mm of rain across 11.3 wet days and about 15.7 hours of daylight. It is the 1st-warmest and 6th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 16°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 16 h 06 min at the start of January to 15 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is El Calafate's 1st-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see El Calafate's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 16°; 1st warmest
Overnight low: 7°; 11th coldest
Rainfall: 54 mm; 11.3 wet days
Daylight: 15 h 42 min; 6:06 AM – 9:51 PM
Cloud cover: 60%; 1st clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 6.83 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.7; out of 10

El Calafate is town in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.

Density: 998/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1927

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← December El Calafate year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in January

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 16°C through the month.

A typical January day in El Calafate reaches about 16°C in the afternoon and slips back to 7°C overnight — a 9°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 12°C and 20°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C warmer than December and on par with February.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Avg low (°C)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	15	7
2	15	7
3	15	7
4	15	7
5	15	7
6	15	7
7	15	7
8	15	7
9	15	7
10	15	7
11	15	7
12	15	7
13	16	7
14	16	7
15	16	7
16	16	7
17	16	7
18	16	7
19	16	7
20	16	7
21	16	7
22	16	7
23	16	7
24	16	7
25	16	7
26	16	7
27	16	7
28	16	7
29	16	7
30	16	7
31	16	7

How January really feels in El Calafate

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

January sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

El Calafate weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 1st-warmest and 6th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	16° / 7°	54	11.3	0	15.7	4.7
Feb	15° / 7°	63	10.1	0.3	14.3	4.6
Mar	13° / 6°	67	12.2	0.6	12.5	3.5
Apr	10° / 3°	72	11.9	2.8	10.5	2.0
May	6° / 0°	66	12.2	5.5	8.8	0.4
Jun	2° / -2°	50	10.1	7.8	7.9	0.0
Jul	2° / -3°	50	10.6	8.5	8.3	0.0
Aug	4° / -2°	53	10.9	8.5	9.7	0.0
Sep	7° / -1°	45	8.8	5.1	11.6	0.7
Oct	10° / 1°	53	9.4	3.6	13.5	2.1
Nov	12° / 4°	47	10.1	1.6	15.2	3.4
Dec	14° / 6°	57	11.7	0.7	16.1	4.0

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% of the time in January, the clearest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 26% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 53%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	42	42	42	43	45	45	45	46	46	46	46	47	46	47	48	47	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49
Cloudier (%)	58	58	58	57	55	55	55	54	54	54	54	53	54	53	52	53	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	42	58
4	43	57
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	45	55
8	46	54
9	46	54
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	47	53
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	48	52
20	48	52
21	48	52
22	48	52
23	48	52
24	49	51
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	49	51
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	49	51

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

El Calafate gets around 54 mm of rain over 11.3 wet days in January. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 37% and peaks near 39% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	39	39	39	39	39	39	39	38	38	38	38	37	37	37	36	36	36	35	35	35	35	35	35	35	36	36	36	36	36	35	35

	Rain chance (%)
1	39
2	39
3	39
4	39
5	39
6	39
7	39
8	38
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	37
13	37
14	37
15	36
16	36
17	36
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	35
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	36
26	36
27	36
28	36
29	36
30	35
31	35

Humidity in January

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of January feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, January lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in January

Winds average 11 km/h in January, the windiest month of the year.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 10 km/h on the calmest days to 11 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	11	calm
2	11	calm
3	11	calm
4	11	calm
5	11	calm
6	11	calm
7	11	calm
8	11	calm
9	11	calm
10	11	calm
11	11	calm
12	11	calm
13	11	calm
14	11	calm
15	11	calm
16	11	calm
17	11	calm
18	11	calm
19	11	calm
20	11	calm
21	11	calm
22	11	calm
23	11	calm
24	11	calm
25	11	calm
26	11	calm
27	10	calm
28	10	calm
29	10	calm
30	10	calm
31	10	calm

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 16 h 06 min at the start of January to 15 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 60 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 5:48 AM to 6:30 AM, and sunset from 9:56 PM to 9:35 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	16.1	16.1	16.1	16.1	16.1	16.0	16.0	16.0	16.0	15.9	15.9	15.9	15.8	15.8	15.8	15.7	15.7	15.7	15.6	15.6	15.6	15.5	15.5	15.4	15.4	15.3	15.3	15.2	15.2	15.1	15.1
Sunrise (AM)	5:48	5:49	5:50	5:51	5:52	5:53	5:55	5:56	5:57	5:58	5:59	6:01	6:02	6:03	6:05	6:06	6:08	6:09	6:11	6:12	6:14	6:15	6:17	6:18	6:20	6:21	6:23	6:25	6:26	6:28	6:30
Sunset (PM)	9:56	9:56	9:56	9:56	9:56	9:55	9:55	9:55	9:54	9:54	9:54	9:53	9:53	9:52	9:51	9:51	9:50	9:49	9:48	9:47	9:47	9:46	9:45	9:44	9:43	9:41	9:40	9:39	9:38	9:37	9:35

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	16.1	5:48	9:56
2	16.1	5:49	9:56
3	16.1	5:50	9:56
4	16.1	5:51	9:56
5	16.1	5:52	9:56
6	16.0	5:53	9:55
7	16.0	5:55	9:55
8	16.0	5:56	9:55
9	16.0	5:57	9:54
10	15.9	5:58	9:54
11	15.9	5:59	9:54
12	15.9	6:01	9:53
13	15.8	6:02	9:53
14	15.8	6:03	9:52
15	15.8	6:05	9:51
16	15.7	6:06	9:51
17	15.7	6:08	9:50
18	15.7	6:09	9:49
19	15.6	6:11	9:48
20	15.6	6:12	9:47
21	15.6	6:14	9:47
22	15.5	6:15	9:46
23	15.5	6:17	9:45
24	15.4	6:18	9:44
25	15.4	6:20	9:43
26	15.3	6:21	9:41
27	15.3	6:23	9:40
28	15.2	6:25	9:39
29	15.2	6:26	9:38
30	15.1	6:28	9:37
31	15.1	6:30	9:35

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 6.83 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.82 kWh/m² to a high of 7.16 kWh/m² in December across the year — January's 6.83 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	6.9	6.9	6.9	6.9	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.6	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.3	6.3
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	7.0	Intense
2	7.0	Intense
3	7.0	Intense
4	7.0	Intense
5	7.0	Intense
6	7.0	Intense
7	7.0	Intense
8	7.0	Intense
9	7.0	Intense
10	7.0	Intense
11	7.0	Intense
12	7.0	Intense
13	6.9	Intense
14	6.9	Intense
15	6.9	Intense
16	6.9	Intense
17	6.8	Intense
18	6.8	Intense
19	6.8	Intense
20	6.7	Intense
21	6.7	Intense
22	6.7	Intense
23	6.6	Intense
24	6.6	Intense
25	6.5	Intense
26	6.5	Intense
27	6.5	Intense
28	6.4	Intense
29	6.4	Intense
30	6.3	Intense
31	6.3	Intense

Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit El Calafate?

Our two travel scores rate January for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.7

Sightseeing

1st-best month of the year

—

Beach & pool

never really warm enough

January is a reasonable time to visit El Calafate for sightseeing.

What to pack for El Calafate in January

From January's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In January, El Calafate sees daytime highs around 16°C and nights near 7°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: a warm layer and rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

sun protectiona warm layerrain gear

UV index in El Calafate in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 10 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in El Calafate peaks around January 12 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 21 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	10	9	5	3	1	1	1	2	3	6	7	10
Level	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	High	High	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	10	Extreme
Feb	9	Very high
Mar	5	High
Apr	3	Moderate
May	1	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	1	Low
Aug	2	Low
Sep	3	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	7	High
Dec	10	Very high

Location & terrain

Where is El Calafate?

El Calafate sits at 50.3°S, 72.3°W, 205 m above sea level, in Argentina. The nearest listed city is El Chalten, 121 km away.

Topography around El Calafate

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of El Calafate.

Within 3 km, the terrain around El Calafate has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 256 m around an average of 239 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,322 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,782 m.

The land around El Calafate is covered by grassland (54%) within 3 km, grassland (53%) and water (36%) within 16 km, and grassland (51%) and bare terrain (26%) within 80 km.

3 km

256 m

grassland 54%

16 km

1,322 m

grassland 53%

80 km

2,782 m

grassland 51%

treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewatermoss and lichen

← December El Calafate year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

January weather nearby: El Chalten 121 km · Puerto Natales 155 km · Río Gallegos 255 km · Punta Arenas 328 km · Las Heras 489 km · Río Grande 494 km · Pico Truncado 506 km · Coyhaique 530 km

Argentina travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type C / I; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 46% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $14,898; 2025
Happiness: 6.4 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate: 4.5; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 14.1; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: High; EF EPI 575
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for El Calafate (-50.3407°, -72.2768°, elevation 205 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	15	7
2	15	7
3	15	7
4	15	7
5	15	7
6	15	7
7	15	7
8	15	7
9	15	7
10	15	7
11	15	7
12	15	7
13	16	7
14	16	7
15	16	7
16	16	7
17	16	7
18	16	7
19	16	7
20	16	7
21	16	7
22	16	7
23	16	7
24	16	7
25	16	7
26	16	7
27	16	7
28	16	7
29	16	7
30	16	7
31	16	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	42	58
4	43	57
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	45	55
8	46	54
9	46	54
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	47	53
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	48	52
20	48	52
21	48	52
22	48	52
23	48	52
24	49	51
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	49	51
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	49	51

	Rain chance (%)
1	39
2	39
3	39
4	39
5	39
6	39
7	39
8	38
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	37
13	37
14	37
15	36
16	36
17	36
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	35
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	36
26	36
27	36
28	36
29	36
30	35
31	35

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	15	7
2	15	7
3	15	7
4	15	7
5	15	7
6	15	7
7	15	7
8	15	7
9	15	7
10	15	7
11	15	7
12	15	7
13	16	7
14	16	7
15	16	7
16	16	7
17	16	7
18	16	7
19	16	7
20	16	7
21	16	7
22	16	7
23	16	7
24	16	7
25	16	7
26	16	7
27	16	7
28	16	7
29	16	7
30	16	7
31	16	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	42	58
4	43	57
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	45	55
8	46	54
9	46	54
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	47	53
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	48	52
20	48	52
21	48	52
22	48	52
23	48	52
24	49	51
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	49	51
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	49	51

	Rain chance (%)
1	39
2	39
3	39
4	39
5	39
6	39
7	39
8	38
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	37
13	37
14	37
15	36
16	36
17	36
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	35
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	36
26	36
27	36
28	36
29	36
30	35
31	35

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	15	7
2	15	7
3	15	7
4	15	7
5	15	7
6	15	7
7	15	7
8	15	7
9	15	7
10	15	7
11	15	7
12	15	7
13	16	7
14	16	7
15	16	7
16	16	7
17	16	7
18	16	7
19	16	7
20	16	7
21	16	7
22	16	7
23	16	7
24	16	7
25	16	7
26	16	7
27	16	7
28	16	7
29	16	7
30	16	7
31	16	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	42	58
4	43	57
5	45	55
6	45	55
7	45	55
8	46	54
9	46	54
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	47	53
13	46	54
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	48	52
20	48	52
21	48	52
22	48	52
23	48	52
24	49	51
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	49	51
29	49	51
30	49	51
31	49	51

	Rain chance (%)
1	39
2	39
3	39
4	39
5	39
6	39
7	39
8	38
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	37
13	37
14	37
15	36
16	36
17	36
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	35
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	36
26	36
27	36
28	36
29	36
30	35
31	35

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100