Asmara weather in January

In January, Asmara sees average daytime highs of 22°C and overnight lows near 12°C, with 49 mm of rain across 12.9 wet days and about 11.2 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 4th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 22°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 40% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 06 min at the start of January to 11 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Asmara's 10th-clearest and 9th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Asmara's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 22°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 12°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 49 mm; 12.9 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 12 min; 6:58 AM – 6:09 PM
Cloud cover: 47%; 10th clearest
Wind: 5 km/h; 9th windiest
Solar energy: 5.11 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.5; out of 10

Asmara is capital city of Eritrea.

Density: 46/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1897

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

← December Asmara 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 22°C through the month.

A typical January day in Asmara reaches about 22°C in the afternoon and slips back to 12°C overnight — a 10°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 20°C and 24°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs on par with December and about 1°C cooler than 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)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23
Avg low (°C)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

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

Asmara weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 4th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	22° / 12°	49	12.9	11.2	6.5
Feb	23° / 12°	34	9.3	11.5	7.1
Mar	25° / 14°	48	12.2	11.9	6.8
Apr	26° / 15°	63	16.1	12.3	6.1
May	27° / 16°	47	10.8	12.7	6.8
Jun	28° / 16°	39	8.3	12.9	6.3
Jul	26° / 16°	182	27.3	12.8	4.2
Aug	26° / 17°	211	26.9	12.5	4.3
Sep	27° / 16°	38	6.1	12.1	7.5
Oct	25° / 14°	28	5.7	11.7	8.1
Nov	23° / 13°	32	8.4	11.3	7.6
Dec	22° / 12°	36	10.9	11.1	6.9

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 40% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 31% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 28%.

	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 (%)	77	75	75	73	73	72	70	70	69	68	68	67	67	67	68	68	69	69	70	71	71	72	73	73	75	75	75	77	77	77	77
Cloudier (%)	23	25	25	27	27	28	30	30	31	32	32	33	33	33	32	32	31	31	30	29	29	28	27	27	25	25	25	23	23	23	23

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	77	23
2	75	25
3	75	25
4	73	27
5	73	27
6	72	28
7	70	30
8	70	30
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	67	33
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	68	32
16	68	32
17	69	31
18	69	31
19	70	30
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	72	28
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	77	23
31	77	23

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Asmara gets around 49 mm of rain over 12.9 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 41% and peaks near 45% 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 (%)	38	39	40	40	41	42	43	43	44	44	45	45	45	45	45	44	44	43	42	42	41	40	40	40	39	39	38	37	37	36	35

	Rain chance (%)
1	38
2	39
3	40
4	40
5	41
6	42
7	43
8	43
9	44
10	44
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	44
17	44
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	41
22	40
23	40
24	40
25	39
26	39
27	38
28	37
29	37
30	36
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 75% 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 (%)	75	76	76	76	77	77	77	77	77	77	77	77	77	76	76	75	75	74	74	74	73	73	73	73	72	72	72	72	73	73	73
Comfortable (%)	25	24	24	24	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	25	25	26	26	26	27	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	27	27	27

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	75	25
2	76	24
3	76	24
4	76	24
5	77	23
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	77	23
13	77	23
14	76	24
15	76	24
16	75	25
17	75	25
18	74	26
19	74	26
20	74	26
21	73	27
22	73	27
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	72	28
28	72	28
29	73	27
30	73	27
31	73	27

Wind in January

Winds average 5 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 5 km/h on the calmest days to 5 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)	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
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	5	calm
2	5	calm
3	5	calm
4	5	calm
5	5	calm
6	5	calm
7	5	calm
8	5	calm
9	5	calm
10	5	calm
11	5	calm
12	5	calm
13	5	calm
14	5	calm
15	5	calm
16	5	calm
17	5	calm
18	5	calm
19	5	calm
20	5	calm
21	5	calm
22	5	calm
23	5	calm
24	5	calm
25	5	calm
26	5	calm
27	5	calm
28	5	calm
29	5	calm
30	5	calm
31	5	calm

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 06 min at the start of January to 11 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 12 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 6:54 AM to 6:58 AM, and sunset from 6:01 PM to 6:17 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)	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.2	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3
Sunrise (AM)	6:54	6:55	6:55	6:55	6:56	6:56	6:56	6:57	6:57	6:57	6:57	6:57	6:58	6:58	6:58	6:58	6:58	6:58	6:58	6:59	6:59	6:59	6:59	6:59	6:59	6:59	6:59	6:58	6:58	6:58	6:58
Sunset (PM)	6:01	6:01	6:02	6:02	6:03	6:03	6:04	6:04	6:05	6:06	6:06	6:07	6:07	6:08	6:08	6:09	6:10	6:10	6:11	6:11	6:12	6:12	6:13	6:13	6:14	6:14	6:15	6:16	6:16	6:17	6:17

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.1	6:54	6:01
2	11.1	6:55	6:01
3	11.1	6:55	6:02
4	11.1	6:55	6:02
5	11.1	6:56	6:03
6	11.1	6:56	6:03
7	11.1	6:56	6:04
8	11.1	6:57	6:04
9	11.1	6:57	6:05
10	11.1	6:57	6:06
11	11.1	6:57	6:06
12	11.2	6:57	6:07
13	11.2	6:58	6:07
14	11.2	6:58	6:08
15	11.2	6:58	6:08
16	11.2	6:58	6:09
17	11.2	6:58	6:10
18	11.2	6:58	6:10
19	11.2	6:58	6:11
20	11.2	6:59	6:11
21	11.2	6:59	6:12
22	11.2	6:59	6:12
23	11.2	6:59	6:13
24	11.2	6:59	6:13
25	11.3	6:59	6:14
26	11.3	6:59	6:14
27	11.3	6:59	6:15
28	11.3	6:58	6:16
29	11.3	6:58	6:16
30	11.3	6:58	6:17
31	11.3	6:58	6:17

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 5.11 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 5.05 kWh/m² to a high of 6.67 kWh/m² in April across the year — January's 5.11 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	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)	5.1	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.4
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.1	Bright
2	5.0	Bright
3	5.0	Bright
4	5.0	Bright
5	5.0	Bright
6	5.0	Bright
7	5.0	Bright
8	5.0	Bright
9	5.0	Bright
10	5.0	Bright
11	5.0	Bright
12	5.0	Bright
13	5.0	Bright
14	5.0	Bright
15	5.1	Bright
16	5.1	Bright
17	5.1	Bright
18	5.1	Bright
19	5.1	Bright
20	5.1	Bright
21	5.2	Bright
22	5.2	Bright
23	5.2	Bright
24	5.2	Bright
25	5.3	Bright
26	5.3	Bright
27	5.3	Bright
28	5.3	Bright
29	5.3	Bright
30	5.4	Bright
31	5.4	Bright

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Asmara

In seasonPeak

None of Asmara's seasonal hazards are active in January. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Asmara's rainy season runs July–August, when most of the year's rain falls.

Asmara sees seasonal dust haze (June–August), heaviest in July.

Rainy season

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Asmara?

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

6.5

Sightseeing

8th-best month of the year

4.6

Beach & pool

10th-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Asmara for sightseeing.

What to pack for Asmara in January

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

In January, Asmara sees daytime highs around 22°C and nights near 12°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 13 days see rain.

light clothesrain gearsun protection

UV index in Asmara in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 11 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Asmara peaks around April 12 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 13 at about 9 (very high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	11	13	14	15	13	11	11	11	13	12	9	9
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	13	Extreme
Mar	14	Extreme
Apr	15	Extreme
May	13	Extreme
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	11	Extreme
Sep	13	Extreme
Oct	12	Extreme
Nov	9	Very high
Dec	9	Very high

Air quality in Asmara 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 Asmara is worst in June — around 27 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	22	22	26	25	26	27	24	22	24	24	21	19
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	22	Moderate
Feb	22	Moderate
Mar	26	Moderate
Apr	25	Moderate
May	26	Moderate
Jun	27	Moderate
Jul	24	Moderate
Aug	22	Moderate
Sep	24	Moderate
Oct	24	Moderate
Nov	21	Moderate
Dec	19	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Asmara?

Asmara sits at 15.3°N, 38.9°E, 2,334 m above sea level, in Eritrea. The nearest listed city is Mendefera, 52 km away.

Topography around Asmara

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Asmara has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 125 m around an average of 2,341 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,574 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,865 m.

The land around Asmara is covered by artificial surfaces (52%) and cropland (29%) within 3 km, cropland (32%), grassland (31%) and shrubs (30%) within 16 km, and grassland (33%), shrubs (29%) and bare terrain (20%) within 80 km.

3 km

125 m

artificial surfaces 52%

16 km

1,574 m

cropland 32%

80 km

2,865 m

grassland 33%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

January weather nearby: Mendefera 52 km · Massawa 65 km · Keren 71 km · Intich’o 120 km · Adwa 131 km · Ādīgrat 131 km · Aksum 137 km · Idaga Hamus 145 km

Eritrea travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type C / L; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 33% of US; price level, 2021
GDP per capita: $689; 2011
Homicide rate: 15.6; per 100k, 2012
Road deaths: 37.9; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank

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 Asmara (15.3381°, 38.9318°, elevation 2,334 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).

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	77	23
2	75	25
3	75	25
4	73	27
5	73	27
6	72	28
7	70	30
8	70	30
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	67	33
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	68	32
16	68	32
17	69	31
18	69	31
19	70	30
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	72	28
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	77	23
31	77	23

	Rain chance (%)
1	38
2	39
3	40
4	40
5	41
6	42
7	43
8	43
9	44
10	44
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	44
17	44
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	41
22	40
23	40
24	40
25	39
26	39
27	38
28	37
29	37
30	36
31	35

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	75	25
2	76	24
3	76	24
4	76	24
5	77	23
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	77	23
13	77	23
14	76	24
15	76	24
16	75	25
17	75	25
18	74	26
19	74	26
20	74	26
21	73	27
22	73	27
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	72	28
28	72	28
29	73	27
30	73	27
31	73	27

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	77	23
2	75	25
3	75	25
4	73	27
5	73	27
6	72	28
7	70	30
8	70	30
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	67	33
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	68	32
16	68	32
17	69	31
18	69	31
19	70	30
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	72	28
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	77	23
31	77	23

	Rain chance (%)
1	38
2	39
3	40
4	40
5	41
6	42
7	43
8	43
9	44
10	44
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	44
17	44
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	41
22	40
23	40
24	40
25	39
26	39
27	38
28	37
29	37
30	36
31	35

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	75	25
2	76	24
3	76	24
4	76	24
5	77	23
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	77	23
13	77	23
14	76	24
15	76	24
16	75	25
17	75	25
18	74	26
19	74	26
20	74	26
21	73	27
22	73	27
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	72	28
28	72	28
29	73	27
30	73	27
31	73	27

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	77	23
2	75	25
3	75	25
4	73	27
5	73	27
6	72	28
7	70	30
8	70	30
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	67	33
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	68	32
16	68	32
17	69	31
18	69	31
19	70	30
20	71	29
21	71	29
22	72	28
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	77	23
31	77	23

	Rain chance (%)
1	38
2	39
3	40
4	40
5	41
6	42
7	43
8	43
9	44
10	44
11	45
12	45
13	45
14	45
15	45
16	44
17	44
18	43
19	42
20	42
21	41
22	40
23	40
24	40
25	39
26	39
27	38
28	37
29	37
30	36
31	35

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	75	25
2	76	24
3	76	24
4	76	24
5	77	23
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	77	23
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	77	23
13	77	23
14	76	24
15	76	24
16	75	25
17	75	25
18	74	26
19	74	26
20	74	26
21	73	27
22	73	27
23	73	27
24	73	27
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	72	28
28	72	28
29	73	27
30	73	27
31	73	27