Lalibela weather in January

In January, Lalibela sees average daytime highs of 24°C and overnight lows near 10°C, with 5 mm of rain across 1.2 wet days and about 11.4 hours of daylight. It is the 6th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 24°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 59% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 18 min at the start of January to 11 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Lalibela's 3rd-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Lalibela's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 24°; 6th warmest
Overnight low: 10°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 5 mm; 1.2 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 24 min; 6:52 AM – 6:14 PM
Cloud cover: 35%; 3rd clearest
Wind: 6 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 5.77 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.8; out of 10

Lalibela is Town of Ethiopia.

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

← December Lalibela 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 24°C through the month.

A typical January day in Lalibela reaches about 24°C in the afternoon and slips back to 10°C overnight — a 14°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 22°C and 25°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs on par with December and about 2°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)	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	25	25
Avg low (°C)	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11

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

Lalibela weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 6th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	24° / 10°	5	1.2	11.4	8.8
Feb	25° / 11°	11	2	11.6	8.5
Mar	25° / 12°	37	5.9	11.9	7.7
Apr	25° / 13°	47	6.6	12.3	7.5
May	25° / 13°	59	5.8	12.5	7.6
Jun	24° / 12°	101	10.4	12.7	6.8
Jul	20° / 11°	497	29.3	12.6	3.6
Aug	20° / 11°	521	30.8	12.4	3.4
Sep	21° / 10°	157	15.7	12.1	5.8
Oct	22° / 9°	21	2.9	11.7	8.1
Nov	23° / 9°	10	1.4	11.4	8.7
Dec	23° / 9°	4	1.1	11.3	8.9

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 59% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 21% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 21%.

	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 (%)	87	85	84	84	82	81	79	78	77	77	76	75	75	74	74	74	75	76	77	77	79	79	80	81	81	82	82	82	82	83	82
Cloudier (%)	13	15	16	16	18	19	21	22	23	23	24	25	25	26	26	26	25	24	23	23	21	21	20	19	19	18	18	18	18	17	18

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	85	15
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	82	18
6	81	19
7	79	21
8	78	22
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	76	24
12	75	25
13	75	25
14	74	26
15	74	26
16	74	26
17	75	25
18	76	24
19	77	23
20	77	23
21	79	21
22	79	21
23	80	20
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	82	18
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	82	18
30	83	17
31	82	18

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Lalibela gets around 5 mm of rain over 1.2 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 4% and peaks near 6% 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 (%)	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

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

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 6 km/h in January.

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

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 18 min at the start of January to 11 h 30 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 6:48 AM to 6:53 AM, and sunset from 6:06 PM to 6:21 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)	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.5	11.5	11.5
Sunrise (AM)	6:48	6:48	6:49	6:49	6:49	6:50	6:50	6:50	6:51	6:51	6:51	6:51	6:52	6:52	6:52	6:52	6:52	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53	6:53
Sunset (PM)	6:06	6:07	6:07	6:08	6:08	6:09	6:09	6:10	6:10	6:11	6:11	6:12	6:12	6:13	6:14	6:14	6:15	6:15	6:16	6:16	6:17	6:17	6:18	6:18	6:18	6:19	6:19	6:20	6:20	6:21	6:21

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.3	6:48	6:06
2	11.3	6:48	6:07
3	11.3	6:49	6:07
4	11.3	6:49	6:08
5	11.3	6:49	6:08
6	11.3	6:50	6:09
7	11.3	6:50	6:09
8	11.3	6:50	6:10
9	11.3	6:51	6:10
10	11.3	6:51	6:11
11	11.3	6:51	6:11
12	11.3	6:51	6:12
13	11.3	6:52	6:12
14	11.4	6:52	6:13
15	11.4	6:52	6:14
16	11.4	6:52	6:14
17	11.4	6:52	6:15
18	11.4	6:53	6:15
19	11.4	6:53	6:16
20	11.4	6:53	6:16
21	11.4	6:53	6:17
22	11.4	6:53	6:17
23	11.4	6:53	6:18
24	11.4	6:53	6:18
25	11.4	6:53	6:18
26	11.4	6:53	6:19
27	11.4	6:53	6:19
28	11.4	6:53	6:20
29	11.5	6:53	6:20
30	11.5	6:53	6:21
31	11.5	6:53	6:21

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 5.77 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 5.2 kWh/m² to a high of 6.68 kWh/m² in April across the year — January's 5.77 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	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)	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.1
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	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.7	Bright
2	5.7	Bright
3	5.7	Bright
4	5.7	Bright
5	5.7	Bright
6	5.7	Bright
7	5.7	Bright
8	5.7	Bright
9	5.7	Bright
10	5.7	Bright
11	5.7	Bright
12	5.7	Bright
13	5.7	Bright
14	5.7	Bright
15	5.7	Bright
16	5.7	Bright
17	5.7	Bright
18	5.8	Bright
19	5.8	Bright
20	5.8	Bright
21	5.8	Bright
22	5.9	Bright
23	5.9	Bright
24	5.9	Bright
25	5.9	Bright
26	6.0	Bright
27	6.0	Bright
28	6.0	Intense
29	6.0	Intense
30	6.0	Intense
31	6.1	Intense

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Lalibela

In seasonPeak

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

Lalibela's monsoon runs July–August, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Monsoon

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Lalibela?

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

8.8

Sightseeing

2nd-best month of the year

7.2

Beach & pool

2nd-best month of the year

January is one of the better times to visit Lalibela for general sightseeing. The water and warmth also suit a beach or pool day.

What to pack for Lalibela in January

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

In January, Lalibela sees daytime highs around 24°C and nights near 10°C. Worth packing: light clothes and sun protection.

light clothessun protection

UV index in Lalibela in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 12 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Lalibela peaks around March 20 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 12 at about 10 (extreme).

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)	12	14	16	15	14	13	11	14	14	13	11	10
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	12	Extreme
Feb	14	Extreme
Mar	16	Extreme
Apr	15	Extreme
May	14	Extreme
Jun	13	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	14	Extreme
Sep	14	Extreme
Oct	13	Extreme
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	10	Extreme

Air quality in Lalibela 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 Lalibela is worst in September — around 40 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), 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)	30	29	31	29	33	38	31	32	40	32	28	29
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	30	Moderate
Feb	29	Moderate
Mar	31	Moderate
Apr	29	Moderate
May	33	Moderate
Jun	38	Poor
Jul	31	Moderate
Aug	32	Moderate
Sep	40	Poor
Oct	32	Moderate
Nov	28	Moderate
Dec	29	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Lalibela?

Lalibela sits at 12.0°N, 39.0°E, 2,481 m above sea level, in Ethiopia. The nearest listed city is Filakit, 49 km away.

Topography around Lalibela

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Lalibela has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,129 m around an average of 2,441 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,162 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,975 m.

The land around Lalibela is covered by grassland (36%), cropland (23%) and shrubs (22%) within 3 km, grassland (46%) and cropland (36%) within 16 km, and cropland (39%), grassland (36%) and shrubs (24%) within 80 km.

3 km

1,129 m

grassland 36%

16 km

2,162 m

grassland 46%

80 km

2,975 m

cropland 39%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain

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

January weather nearby: Filakit 49 km · Weldiya 63 km · Sek’ot’a 67 km · Alamata 70 km · Nefas Mewch’a 71 km · Korem 74 km · Mersa 77 km · Maych’ew 100 km

Ethiopia travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 3; Reconsider Travel
Power plugs: Type C / E / F / L; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 37% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $933; 2025
Happiness: 4.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 14%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 8.5; per 100k, 2012
Road deaths: 28.2; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 499
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 Lalibela (12.0322°, 39.0476°, elevation 2,481 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	23	9
2	23	9
3	23	9
4	23	9
5	23	10
6	23	10
7	23	10
8	23	10
9	23	10
10	23	10
11	23	10
12	23	10
13	23	10
14	23	10
15	24	10
16	24	10
17	24	10
18	24	10
19	24	10
20	24	10
21	24	11
22	24	11
23	24	11
24	24	11
25	24	11
26	24	11
27	24	11
28	24	11
29	24	11
30	25	11
31	25	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	85	15
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	82	18
6	81	19
7	79	21
8	78	22
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	76	24
12	75	25
13	75	25
14	74	26
15	74	26
16	74	26
17	75	25
18	76	24
19	77	23
20	77	23
21	79	21
22	79	21
23	80	20
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	82	18
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	82	18
30	83	17
31	82	18

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	85	15
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	82	18
6	81	19
7	79	21
8	78	22
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	76	24
12	75	25
13	75	25
14	74	26
15	74	26
16	74	26
17	75	25
18	76	24
19	77	23
20	77	23
21	79	21
22	79	21
23	80	20
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	82	18
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	82	18
30	83	17
31	82	18

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	87	13
2	85	15
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	82	18
6	81	19
7	79	21
8	78	22
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	76	24
12	75	25
13	75	25
14	74	26
15	74	26
16	74	26
17	75	25
18	76	24
19	77	23
20	77	23
21	79	21
22	79	21
23	80	20
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	82	18
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	82	18
30	83	17
31	82	18

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

	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