Karbala weather in January

In January, Karbala sees average daytime highs of 16°C and overnight lows near 7°C, with 20 mm of rain across 4.1 wet days and about 10.1 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 63% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 54 min at the start of January to 10 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Karbala's 11th-clearest and 10th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Karbala's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 16°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 7°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 20 mm; 4.1 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 06 min; 7:11 AM – 5:15 PM
Cloud cover: 34%; 11th clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 10th windiest
Solar energy: 3.39 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.3; out of 10

Karbala is city in Karbala Governorate, Iraq.

Founded: ~690 CE

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

← December Karbala 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 Karbala 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	17	17	17	17	17	17
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	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	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	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

How January really feels in Karbala

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.

Karbala 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°	20	4.1	10.1	6.3
Feb	19° / 9°	15	3	10.8	7.6
Mar	25° / 13°	13	2.5	11.8	8.6
Apr	31° / 18°	11	2.3	12.8	5.7
May	37° / 24°	3	0.6	13.7	1.8
Jun	42° / 28°	0	0	14.1	0.0
Jul	44° / 30°	0	0	13.9	0.0
Aug	44° / 29°	0	0	13.2	0.0
Sep	41° / 26°	0	0	12.2	0.3
Oct	34° / 20°	4	0.9	11.2	4.0
Nov	24° / 13°	19	2.9	10.3	8.3
Dec	18° / 8°	17	3.1	9.9	7.1

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 63% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 11% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 25%.

	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 (%)	72	72	72	72	72	73	73	73	74	74	74	76	76	76	75	75	75	75	75	75	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	77	77	77
Cloudier (%)	28	28	28	28	28	27	27	27	26	26	26	24	24	24	25	25	25	25	25	25	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	23	23	23

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

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Karbala gets around 20 mm of rain over 4.1 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 13% and peaks near 14% 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 (%)	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14

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

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	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99
Comfortable (%)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	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	100	0
11	100	0
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	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
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 12 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 11 km/h on the calmest days to 12 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	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
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	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	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	12	calm
12	12	calm
13	12	calm
14	12	calm
15	12	calm
16	12	calm
17	12	calm
18	12	calm
19	12	calm
20	12	calm
21	12	calm
22	12	calm
23	12	calm
24	12	calm
25	12	calm
26	12	calm
27	12	light breeze
28	12	light breeze
29	12	light breeze
30	12	light breeze
31	12	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 54 min at the start of January to 10 h 24 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 7:10 AM to 7:06 AM, and sunset from 5:04 PM to 5:29 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)	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.4	10.4
Sunrise (AM)	7:10	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:11	7:10	7:10	7:10	7:10	7:09	7:09	7:08	7:08	7:08	7:07	7:07	7:06	7:06
Sunset (PM)	5:04	5:04	5:05	5:06	5:07	5:07	5:08	5:09	5:10	5:10	5:11	5:12	5:13	5:14	5:15	5:15	5:16	5:17	5:18	5:19	5:20	5:21	5:22	5:23	5:23	5:24	5:25	5:26	5:27	5:28	5:29

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.9	7:10	5:04
2	9.9	7:11	5:04
3	9.9	7:11	5:05
4	9.9	7:11	5:06
5	9.9	7:11	5:07
6	9.9	7:11	5:07
7	9.9	7:11	5:08
8	10.0	7:11	5:09
9	10.0	7:11	5:10
10	10.0	7:11	5:10
11	10.0	7:11	5:11
12	10.0	7:11	5:12
13	10.0	7:11	5:13
14	10.0	7:11	5:14
15	10.1	7:11	5:15
16	10.1	7:11	5:15
17	10.1	7:11	5:16
18	10.1	7:11	5:17
19	10.1	7:10	5:18
20	10.1	7:10	5:19
21	10.2	7:10	5:20
22	10.2	7:10	5:21
23	10.2	7:09	5:22
24	10.2	7:09	5:23
25	10.2	7:08	5:23
26	10.3	7:08	5:24
27	10.3	7:08	5:25
28	10.3	7:07	5:26
29	10.3	7:07	5:27
30	10.4	7:06	5:28
31	10.4	7:06	5:29

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 3.39 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.1 kWh/m² to a high of 7.89 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 3.39 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)	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.9
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	3.1	Moderate
2	3.1	Moderate
3	3.1	Moderate
4	3.1	Moderate
5	3.1	Moderate
6	3.2	Moderate
7	3.2	Moderate
8	3.2	Moderate
9	3.2	Moderate
10	3.2	Moderate
11	3.3	Moderate
12	3.3	Moderate
13	3.3	Moderate
14	3.4	Moderate
15	3.4	Moderate
16	3.4	Moderate
17	3.4	Moderate
18	3.5	Moderate
19	3.5	Moderate
20	3.5	Moderate
21	3.5	Moderate
22	3.6	Moderate
23	3.6	Moderate
24	3.6	Moderate
25	3.7	Moderate
26	3.7	Moderate
27	3.7	Moderate
28	3.8	Moderate
29	3.8	Moderate
30	3.8	Moderate
31	3.9	Moderate

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Karbala

In seasonPeak

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

Karbala sees seasonal dust haze (March–October), heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Karbala?

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

6.3

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

1.1

Beach & pool

10th-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Karbala for sightseeing.

What to pack for Karbala in January

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

In January, Karbala sees daytime highs around 16°C and nights near 7°C. Worth packing: a warm layer. About 4 days see rain.

a warm layer

UV index in Karbala 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 Karbala peaks around June 15 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 12 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	4	5	6	8	11	7	9	5	6	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	High	High	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Moderate	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	4	Moderate
Mar	5	High
Apr	6	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	7	Very high
Aug	9	Very high
Sep	5	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Karbala 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 Karbala is worst in May — around 77 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)	68	68	73	72	77	64	60	61	65	70	63	70
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	68	Unhealthy
Feb	68	Unhealthy
Mar	73	Unhealthy
Apr	72	Unhealthy
May	77	Unhealthy
Jun	64	Unhealthy
Jul	60	Unhealthy
Aug	61	Unhealthy
Sep	65	Unhealthy
Oct	70	Unhealthy
Nov	63	Unhealthy
Dec	70	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Karbala?

Karbala sits at 32.6°N, 44.0°E, 32 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Al Hindīyah, 20 km away.

Topography around Karbala

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Karbala has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 19 m around an average of 32 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 57 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 178 m.

The land around Karbala is covered by artificial surfaces (76%) within 3 km, bare terrain (49%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (59%) and cropland (28%) within 80 km.

3 km

19 m

artificial surfaces 76%

16 km

57 m

bare terrain 49%

80 km

178 m

bare terrain 59%

treesshrubscroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

January weather nearby: Al Hindīyah 20 km · Saddat al Hindīyah 26 km · Al-Musayab 31 km · Al Maḩāwīl 36 km · Al Hillah 41 km · Nāḩiyat al Iskandarīyah 43 km · Al Maḩmūdīyah 59 km · Al-Qāsim 71 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 Karbala (32.616°, 44.0249°, elevation 32 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	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	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

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

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

	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	100	0
11	100	0
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	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
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	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	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

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

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

	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	100	0
11	100	0
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	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
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	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	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

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

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

	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	100	0
11	100	0
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	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
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