Balad weather in January

In January, Balad sees average daytime highs of 16°C and overnight lows near 7°C, with 36 mm of rain across 6 wet days and about 10 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 1st-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 56% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 48 min at the start of January to 10 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Balad's 12th-clearest and 10th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Balad's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 16°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 7°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 36 mm; 6 wet days
Daylight: 10 hours; 7:14 AM – 5:12 PM
Cloud cover: 40%; 12th clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 10th windiest
Solar energy: 3.09 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.9; out of 10

Balad is city in Iraq.

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

← December Balad 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 Balad reaches about 16°C in the afternoon and slips back to 7°C overnight — a 10°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 2°C cooler than December and about 3°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)	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	17	17
Avg low (°C)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7

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

How January really feels in Balad

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.

Balad weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 1st-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	16° / 7°	36	6	10	5.9
Feb	19° / 8°	29	4.4	10.7	7.1
Mar	24° / 12°	27	4.4	11.7	8.2
Apr	31° / 18°	16	2.8	12.8	5.8
May	37° / 23°	4	1.4	13.7	1.8
Jun	42° / 28°	0	0	14.2	0.0
Jul	45° / 31°	0	0	14	0.0
Aug	45° / 30°	0	0	13.3	0.0
Sep	41° / 26°	0	0.1	12.2	0.2
Oct	34° / 20°	12	1.7	11.1	3.8
Nov	24° / 13°	28	3.7	10.2	8.1
Dec	18° / 8°	34	5.2	9.8	6.8

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 56% of the time in January, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 30%.

	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 (%)	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	71	71	71	71	71	71	72	72	72	72
Cloudier (%)	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	29	29	29	29	29	29	28	28	28	28

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

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Balad gets around 36 mm of rain over 6 wet days in January, the wettest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 18% and peaks near 20% 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 (%)	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	19	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	19	19

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

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 99% 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 (%)	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99
Comfortable (%)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	99	1
6	99	1
7	99	1
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1

Wind in January

Winds average 10 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 9 km/h on the calmest days to 10 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)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	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	9	calm
2	9	calm
3	9	calm
4	9	calm
5	9	calm
6	9	calm
7	9	calm
8	9	calm
9	9	calm
10	9	calm
11	9	calm
12	9	calm
13	9	calm
14	9	calm
15	9	calm
16	9	calm
17	9	calm
18	9	calm
19	10	calm
20	10	calm
21	10	calm
22	10	calm
23	10	calm
24	10	calm
25	10	calm
26	10	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 9 h 48 min at the start of January to 10 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 30 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 7:13 AM to 7:08 AM, and sunset from 5:00 PM to 5:26 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)	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.3	10.3
Sunrise (AM)	7:13	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:14	7:13	7:13	7:13	7:12	7:12	7:12	7:11	7:11	7:10	7:10	7:09	7:09	7:08	7:08
Sunset (PM)	5:00	5:00	5:01	5:02	5:03	5:03	5:04	5:05	5:06	5:07	5:07	5:08	5:09	5:10	5:11	5:12	5:13	5:13	5:14	5:15	5:16	5:17	5:18	5:19	5:20	5:21	5:22	5:23	5:24	5:25	5:26

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.8	7:13	5:00
2	9.8	7:14	5:00
3	9.8	7:14	5:01
4	9.8	7:14	5:02
5	9.8	7:14	5:03
6	9.8	7:14	5:03
7	9.8	7:14	5:04
8	9.8	7:14	5:05
9	9.9	7:14	5:06
10	9.9	7:14	5:07
11	9.9	7:14	5:07
12	9.9	7:14	5:08
13	9.9	7:14	5:09
14	9.9	7:14	5:10
15	9.9	7:14	5:11
16	10.0	7:14	5:12
17	10.0	7:14	5:13
18	10.0	7:13	5:13
19	10.0	7:13	5:14
20	10.0	7:13	5:15
21	10.1	7:12	5:16
22	10.1	7:12	5:17
23	10.1	7:12	5:18
24	10.1	7:11	5:19
25	10.2	7:11	5:20
26	10.2	7:10	5:21
27	10.2	7:10	5:22
28	10.2	7:09	5:23
29	10.2	7:09	5:24
30	10.3	7:08	5:25
31	10.3	7:08	5:26

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 3.09 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.78 kWh/m² to a high of 7.92 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 3.09 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)	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.5
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.8	Moderate
2	2.8	Moderate
3	2.8	Moderate
4	2.9	Moderate
5	2.9	Moderate
6	2.9	Moderate
7	2.9	Moderate
8	2.9	Moderate
9	2.9	Moderate
10	3.0	Moderate
11	3.0	Moderate
12	3.0	Moderate
13	3.0	Moderate
14	3.1	Moderate
15	3.1	Moderate
16	3.1	Moderate
17	3.1	Moderate
18	3.2	Moderate
19	3.2	Moderate
20	3.2	Moderate
21	3.2	Moderate
22	3.3	Moderate
23	3.3	Moderate
24	3.3	Moderate
25	3.3	Moderate
26	3.4	Moderate
27	3.4	Moderate
28	3.4	Moderate
29	3.5	Moderate
30	3.5	Moderate
31	3.5	Moderate

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Balad

In seasonPeak

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

Balad sees seasonal dust haze (March–September), heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Balad?

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

5.9

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

0.9

Beach & pool

10th-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Balad for sightseeing.

What to pack for Balad in January

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

In January, Balad sees daytime highs around 16°C and nights near 7°C. Worth packing: a warm layer. About 6 days see rain.

a warm layer

UV index in Balad in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 3. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Balad peaks around June 13 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 11 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	3	5	6	8	10	5	8	5	5	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Moderate	Very high	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	5	Moderate
Apr	6	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	5	Moderate
Aug	8	Very high
Sep	5	Moderate
Oct	5	Moderate
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Balad 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 Balad is worst in December — around 90 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), 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)	88	85	84	79	79	68	65	68	72	85	82	90
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	88	Unhealthy
Feb	85	Unhealthy
Mar	84	Unhealthy
Apr	79	Unhealthy
May	79	Unhealthy
Jun	68	Unhealthy
Jul	65	Unhealthy
Aug	68	Unhealthy
Sep	72	Unhealthy
Oct	85	Unhealthy
Nov	82	Unhealthy
Dec	90	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Balad?

Balad sits at 34.0°N, 44.1°E, 53 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Ad Dujayl, 20 km away.

Topography around Balad

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Balad has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 13 m around an average of 48 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 28 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 224 m.

The land around Balad is covered by cropland (37%), trees (27%) and artificial surfaces (23%) within 3 km, cropland (64%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (46%) and cropland (36%) within 80 km.

3 km

13 m

cropland 37%

16 km

28 m

cropland 64%

80 km

224 m

bare terrain 46%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

January weather nearby: Ad Dujayl 20 km · Sāmarrā’ 31 km · Khāliş 43 km · Baqubah 51 km · Al Miqdādīyah 73 km · Sadr City 75 km · Baghdad 79 km · Abū Ghurayb 79 km

Iraq travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 4; Do Not Travel
Power plugs: Type C / D / G; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 38% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $5,410; 2025
Happiness: 5.2 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 60%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 9.5; per 100k, 2013
Road deaths: 27.3; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Very low; EF EPI 406
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 Balad (34.0149°, 44.1457°, elevation 53 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	17	7
2	17	7
3	17	7
4	16	7
5	16	7
6	16	7
7	16	7
8	16	7
9	16	7
10	16	7
11	16	7
12	16	6
13	16	6
14	16	6
15	16	6
16	16	6
17	16	6
18	16	6
19	16	6
20	16	6
21	16	6
22	16	6
23	16	6
24	16	6
25	16	6
26	16	7
27	16	7
28	16	7
29	16	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	99	1
6	99	1
7	99	1
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1

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

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	99	1
6	99	1
7	99	1
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1

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

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	99	1
5	99	1
6	99	1
7	99	1
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1