Fort St. John weather in January

In January, Fort St. John sees average daytime highs of -9°C and overnight lows near -17°C, with 25 mm of precipitation across 7.1 wet days and about 7.3 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about -11°C in the first days to -7°C by the end. 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 6 h 42 min at the start of January to 8 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Fort St. John's 11th-clearest and 10th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Fort St. John's year-round climate.

Daytime high
-9°
12th warmest
Overnight low
-17°
1st coldest
Precipitation
25 mm
7.1 wet days
Daylight
7 h 12 min
9:36 AM – 4:50 PM
Cloud cover
69%
11th clearest
Wind
9 km/h
10th windiest
Solar energy
0.75 kWh/m²
Travel score
0.0
out of 10

Fort St. John is city in British Columbia, Canada.

Air quality
Good
PM2.5 9 µg/m³ · 2018
Density
946/km²
people per km²
Founded
1975

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

Temperature in January

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about -11°C in the first days to -7°C by the end.

A typical January day in Fort St. John reaches about -9°C in the afternoon and slips back to -17°C overnight — a 8°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between -24°C and 3°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C cooler than December and about 4°C cooler than February.

-30°-20°-10°151015202531
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
1-10-18
2-10-18
3-11-18
4-11-18
5-11-18
6-11-18
7-11-18
8-11-18
9-11-18
10-10-18
11-10-18
12-10-18
13-10-18
14-10-17
15-10-17
16-10-17
17-9-17
18-9-17
19-9-16
20-9-16
21-9-16
22-8-16
23-8-16
24-8-16
25-8-16
26-8-16
27-8-15
28-8-15
29-7-15
30-7-15
31-7-15

How January really feels in Fort St. John

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 31 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C
0
heat index over the day's high
Days feeling ≤ C
31
31 feel bitter (≤ -10°C)

The story in January is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Fort St. John weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan-9° / -17°257.17.67.30.0
Feb-6° / -14°164.55.39.10.0
Mar-0° / -10°236.67.111.40.0
Apr / -2°255.73.413.81.8
May16° / 408.21.1165.1
Jun20° / 7510.9017.36.0
Jul22° / 10°8011.3016.86.4
Aug21° / 478.6014.96.6
Sep15° / 438.10.512.54.8
Oct / -1°337.33.710.11.2
Nov-3° / -10°317.47.37.90.0
Dec-8° / -15°235.66.46.70.0

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 65%.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
13367
23367
33466
43466
53565
63565
73466
83466
93466
103466
113466
123466
133367
143367
153367
163268
173367
183367
193466
203466
213565
223565
233565
243664
253664
263763
273763
283961
293961
303961
314060

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitationSnow

Fort St. John gets around 25 mm of rain and snow over 7.1 wet days in January. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 22% and peaks near 22% on the wettest days, and about 8 days bring snow.

0%10%20%30%40%151015202531
Rain chance (%)Snow chance (%)
11920
22021
32022
42122
52223
62223
72224
82224
92224
102224
112224
122224
132224
142224
152224
162224
172224
182224
192224
202224
212224
222225
232225
242225
252225
262225
272224
282124
292123
302023
312022

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.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Dry (%)
1100
2100
3100
4100
5100
6100
7100
8100
9100
10100
11100
12100
13100
14100
15100
16100
17100
18100
19100
20100
21100
22100
23100
24100
25100
26100
27100
28100
29100
30100
31100

Wind in January

Winds average 9 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 9 km/h on the calmest days to 9 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

051015151015202531
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
19calm
29calm
39calm
49calm
59calm
69calm
79calm
89calm
99calm
109calm
119calm
129calm
139calm
149calm
159calm
169calm
179calm
189calm
199calm
209calm
219calm
229calm
239calm
249calm
259calm
269calm
279calm
289calm
299calm
309calm
319calm

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 6 h 42 min at the start of January to 8 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 84 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 9:45 AM to 9:14 AM, and sunset from 4:28 PM to 5:20 PM.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AM151015202531
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
16.79:454:28
26.79:454:29
36.89:454:30
46.89:444:31
56.89:444:33
66.89:434:34
76.99:434:35
86.99:424:37
96.99:424:38
107.09:414:40
117.09:404:41
127.19:394:43
137.19:394:45
147.19:384:46
157.29:374:48
167.29:364:50
177.39:344:52
187.39:334:54
197.49:324:55
207.49:314:57
217.59:294:59
227.69:285:01
237.69:275:03
247.79:255:05
257.79:245:07
267.89:225:09
277.89:215:11
287.99:195:13
298.09:175:15
308.09:165:17
318.19:145:20

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 0.75 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.54 kWh/m² to a high of 6.23 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 0.75 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

00.511.52151015202531
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
10.6Dim
20.6Dim
30.6Dim
40.6Dim
50.6Dim
60.6Dim
70.6Dim
80.6Dim
90.6Dim
100.7Dim
110.7Dim
120.7Dim
130.7Dim
140.7Dim
150.7Dim
160.7Dim
170.8Dim
180.8Dim
190.8Dim
200.8Dim
210.8Dim
220.9Dim
230.9Dim
240.9Dim
250.9Dim
261.0Dim
271.0Dim
281.0Dim
291.1Dim
301.1Dim
311.1Dim
Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Fort St. John?

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

0.0
Sightseeing
8th-best month of the year
0.0
Beach & pool
8th-best month of the year

January is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Fort St. John.

What to pack for Fort St. John in January

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

In January, Fort St. John sees daytime highs around -9°C and nights near -17°C. Pack a warm layer and a heavy coat. About 7 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coat

UV index in Fort St. John in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 0. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Fort St. John peaks around July 13 at about 7 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 0 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 5 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJul 13UV 7Dec 19UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar2Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun6High
Jul7High
Aug4Moderate
Sep3Moderate
Oct1Low
Nov1Low
Dec0Low

Air quality in Fort St. John in January

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where January falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Fort St. John is worst in May — around 22 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 5.3× the cleanest month (March, 4 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Fort St. John's WHO annual average of 9 µg/m³.

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodMay 1720 µg/m³Mar 154 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb5Good
Mar4Good
Apr6Good
May22Moderate
Jun8Good
Jul12Good
Aug9Good
Sep6Good
Oct7Good
Nov12Good
Dec11Good
Location & terrain

Where is Fort St. John?

Fort St. John sits at 56.2°N, 120.9°W, 696 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Grande Prairie, 176 km away.

Prince GeorgeJasperTerraceStony PlainSpruce GroveSt. AlbertWîhkwêntôwin

Topography around Fort St. John

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Fort St. John.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Fort St. John has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 126 m around an average of 685 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 466 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 963 m.

The land around Fort St. John is covered by artificial surfaces (32%), trees (26%) and grassland (25%) within 3 km, trees (50%) and grassland (24%) within 16 km, and trees (67%) and grassland (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
126 m
16 km
466 m
80 km
963 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
January weather nearby: Grande Prairie 176 km · Prince George 286 km · Jasper 415 km · Terrace 526 km · Stony Plain 532 km · Spruce Grove 536 km · St. Albert 545 km · Wîhkwêntôwin 557 km

Canada travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 83% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$55,698
2025
Happiness
6.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
97%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Christian 53%none 35%Muslim 5%Hindu 2%

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 Fort St. John (56.2499°, -120.8529°, elevation 696 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. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).