Karonga weather in January

In January, Karonga sees average daytime highs of 28°C and overnight lows near 25°C, with 184 mm of rain across 23.3 wet days and about 12.5 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 1st-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 28°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 6% of the time in January, and the air most often feels oppressive.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 36 min at the start of January to 12 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Karonga's 12th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Karonga's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 28°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 25°; 9th coldest
Rainfall: 184 mm; 23.3 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 30 min; 5:38 AM – 6:09 PM
Cloud cover: 84%; 12th clearest
Wind: 7 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 5.12 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.2; out of 10

Karonga is township in the Karonga District in Northern Region of Malawi.

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

← December Karonga 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 28°C through the month.

A typical January day in Karonga reaches about 28°C in the afternoon and slips back to 25°C overnight — a 3°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 26°C and 30°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs on par with December and on par with 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)	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28
Avg low (°C)	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25

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

Karonga weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 4th-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	28° / 25°	184	23.3	12.5	4.2
Feb	28° / 25°	179	20.9	12.3	4.2
Mar	27° / 24°	169	21.5	12.1	4.6
Apr	27° / 24°	51	9.9	11.8	6.7
May	26° / 23°	6	1.5	11.6	8.6
Jun	24° / 22°	2	0.8	11.4	9.1
Jul	23° / 21°	3	0.8	11.5	9.1
Aug	24° / 22°	1	0.2	11.7	9.4
Sep	27° / 24°	0	0.1	11.9	8.9
Oct	28° / 26°	3	0.8	12.2	7.7
Nov	29° / 26°	32	5.7	12.5	6.1
Dec	28° / 25°	121	17.2	12.6	4.7

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 6% of the time in January, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 7% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 87%.

	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 (%)	18	17	16	15	15	14	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	12	12	13	12	12	12	13	13	12	11	11
Cloudier (%)	82	83	84	85	85	86	87	88	88	88	88	88	88	88	88	88	88	87	87	87	88	88	87	88	88	88	87	87	88	89	89

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	17	83
3	16	84
4	15	85
5	15	85
6	14	86
7	13	87
8	12	88
9	12	88
10	12	88
11	12	88
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	12	88
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	13	87
19	13	87
20	13	87
21	12	88
22	12	88
23	13	87
24	12	88
25	12	88
26	12	88
27	13	87
28	13	87
29	12	88
30	11	89
31	11	89

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Karonga gets around 184 mm of rain over 23.3 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 74% and peaks near 77% on the wettest days. The odds climb toward the end of the month.

	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 (%)	69	70	71	71	72	73	73	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	75	75	75	75	75	76	76	76	76	76	77	77	77	77

	Rain chance (%)
1	69
2	70
3	71
4	71
5	72
6	73
7	73
8	74
9	74
10	74
11	74
12	74
13	74
14	74
15	74
16	74
17	74
18	75
19	75
20	75
21	75
22	75
23	76
24	76
25	76
26	76
27	76
28	77
29	77
30	77
31	77

Humidity in January

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of January feels oppressive — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, January lands in the oppressive band about 71% of days. Sticky, muggy-or-worse air turns up on roughly 100% of them.

	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
Muggy (%)	32	31	31	31	31	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	29	29	29	28	28	27	27	27	26	26	26
Oppressive (%)	68	69	69	69	69	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	70	71	71	71	72	72	73	73	73	74	74	74

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	32	68
2	31	69
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	30	70
17	30	70
18	30	70
19	30	70
20	30	70
21	29	71
22	29	71
23	29	71
24	28	72
25	28	72
26	27	73
27	27	73
28	27	73
29	26	74
30	26	74
31	26	74

Wind in January

Winds average 7 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 6 km/h on the calmest days to 7 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)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	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	7	calm
2	7	calm
3	7	calm
4	7	calm
5	7	calm
6	7	calm
7	7	calm
8	7	calm
9	7	calm
10	7	calm
11	7	calm
12	7	calm
13	7	calm
14	7	calm
15	7	calm
16	7	calm
17	7	calm
18	7	calm
19	7	calm
20	7	calm
21	7	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 12 h 36 min at the start of January to 12 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 12 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 5:30 AM to 5:44 AM, and sunset from 6:05 PM to 6:11 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)	12.6	12.6	12.6	12.6	12.6	12.6	12.6	12.6	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.4	12.4
Sunrise (AM)	5:30	5:31	5:31	5:32	5:32	5:33	5:33	5:34	5:34	5:35	5:35	5:36	5:36	5:37	5:37	5:38	5:38	5:39	5:39	5:40	5:40	5:41	5:41	5:42	5:42	5:42	5:43	5:43	5:44	5:44	5:44
Sunset (PM)	6:05	6:05	6:05	6:06	6:06	6:06	6:07	6:07	6:07	6:08	6:08	6:08	6:09	6:09	6:09	6:09	6:09	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.6	5:30	6:05
2	12.6	5:31	6:05
3	12.6	5:31	6:05
4	12.6	5:32	6:06
5	12.6	5:32	6:06
6	12.6	5:33	6:06
7	12.6	5:33	6:07
8	12.6	5:34	6:07
9	12.5	5:34	6:07
10	12.5	5:35	6:08
11	12.5	5:35	6:08
12	12.5	5:36	6:08
13	12.5	5:36	6:09
14	12.5	5:37	6:09
15	12.5	5:37	6:09
16	12.5	5:38	6:09
17	12.5	5:38	6:09
18	12.5	5:39	6:10
19	12.5	5:39	6:10
20	12.5	5:40	6:10
21	12.5	5:40	6:10
22	12.5	5:41	6:10
23	12.5	5:41	6:10
24	12.5	5:42	6:10
25	12.5	5:42	6:11
26	12.5	5:42	6:11
27	12.5	5:43	6:11
28	12.5	5:43	6:11
29	12.5	5:44	6:11
30	12.4	5:44	6:11
31	12.4	5:44	6:11

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 5.12 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.68 kWh/m² to a high of 7.15 kWh/m² in October across the year — January's 5.12 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)	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2
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	5.2	Bright
2	5.2	Bright
3	5.2	Bright
4	5.2	Bright
5	5.2	Bright
6	5.1	Bright
7	5.1	Bright
8	5.1	Bright
9	5.1	Bright
10	5.1	Bright
11	5.1	Bright
12	5.1	Bright
13	5.1	Bright
14	5.1	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	5.1	Bright
22	5.1	Bright
23	5.2	Bright
24	5.2	Bright
25	5.2	Bright
26	5.2	Bright
27	5.2	Bright
28	5.2	Bright
29	5.2	Bright
30	5.2	Bright
31	5.2	Bright

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Karonga

In seasonPeak

In January, Karonga sits inside its cyclone and monsoon season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Karonga sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

Karonga's monsoon runs December–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

Cyclone

Monsoon

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Karonga?

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

4.2

Sightseeing

11th-best month of the year

4.6

Beach & pool

11th-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Karonga for sightseeing.

What to pack for Karonga in January

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

In January, Karonga sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 23 days see rain.

light clothesrain gearsun protection

UV index in Karonga in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 14 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Karonga peaks around February 22 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 16 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)	14	15	15	13	10	9	10	10	11	13	12	13
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	14	Extreme
Feb	15	Extreme
Mar	15	Extreme
Apr	13	Extreme
May	10	Very high
Jun	9	Very high
Jul	10	Very high
Aug	10	Extreme
Sep	11	Extreme
Oct	13	Extreme
Nov	12	Extreme
Dec	13	Extreme

Air quality in Karonga 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 Karonga is worst in October — around 32 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.9× the cleanest month (May, 8 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	12	13	11	9	8	9	12	17	23	32	19	9
Level	Good	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	12	Good
Feb	13	Moderate
Mar	11	Good
Apr	9	Good
May	8	Good
Jun	9	Good
Jul	12	Good
Aug	17	Moderate
Sep	23	Moderate
Oct	32	Moderate
Nov	19	Moderate
Dec	9	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Karonga?

Karonga sits at 9.9°S, 33.9°E, 486 m above sea level, in Malawi. The nearest listed city is Kyela, 40 km away.

Topography around Karonga

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Karonga has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 17 m around an average of 480 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 433 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,352 m.

The land around Karonga is covered by cropland (40%) and water (24%) within 3 km, water (47%), cropland (23%) and shrubs (20%) within 16 km, and trees (33%), shrubs (23%) and water (23%) within 80 km.

3 km

17 m

cropland 40%

16 km

433 m

water 47%

80 km

2,352 m

trees 33%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

January weather nearby: Kyela 40 km · Ipinda 50 km · Mlangali 66 km · Chitipa 77 km · Tukuyu 82 km · Katumba 85 km · Kiwira 95 km · Njombe 113 km

Malawi travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type G; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 53% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $672; 2025
Happiness: 3.3 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 18%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.8; per 100k, 2012
Road deaths: 33.4; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 465
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 Karonga (-9.9333°, 33.9333°, elevation 486 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). 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	28	25
2	28	25
3	28	25
4	28	25
5	28	25
6	28	25
7	28	25
8	28	25
9	28	25
10	28	25
11	28	25
12	28	25
13	28	25
14	28	25
15	28	25
16	28	25
17	28	25
18	28	25
19	28	25
20	28	25
21	28	25
22	28	25
23	28	25
24	28	25
25	28	25
26	28	25
27	28	25
28	28	25
29	28	25
30	28	25
31	28	25

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	17	83
3	16	84
4	15	85
5	15	85
6	14	86
7	13	87
8	12	88
9	12	88
10	12	88
11	12	88
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	12	88
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	13	87
19	13	87
20	13	87
21	12	88
22	12	88
23	13	87
24	12	88
25	12	88
26	12	88
27	13	87
28	13	87
29	12	88
30	11	89
31	11	89

	Rain chance (%)
1	69
2	70
3	71
4	71
5	72
6	73
7	73
8	74
9	74
10	74
11	74
12	74
13	74
14	74
15	74
16	74
17	74
18	75
19	75
20	75
21	75
22	75
23	76
24	76
25	76
26	76
27	76
28	77
29	77
30	77
31	77

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	32	68
2	31	69
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	30	70
17	30	70
18	30	70
19	30	70
20	30	70
21	29	71
22	29	71
23	29	71
24	28	72
25	28	72
26	27	73
27	27	73
28	27	73
29	26	74
30	26	74
31	26	74

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	17	83
3	16	84
4	15	85
5	15	85
6	14	86
7	13	87
8	12	88
9	12	88
10	12	88
11	12	88
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	12	88
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	13	87
19	13	87
20	13	87
21	12	88
22	12	88
23	13	87
24	12	88
25	12	88
26	12	88
27	13	87
28	13	87
29	12	88
30	11	89
31	11	89

	Rain chance (%)
1	69
2	70
3	71
4	71
5	72
6	73
7	73
8	74
9	74
10	74
11	74
12	74
13	74
14	74
15	74
16	74
17	74
18	75
19	75
20	75
21	75
22	75
23	76
24	76
25	76
26	76
27	76
28	77
29	77
30	77
31	77

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	32	68
2	31	69
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	30	70
17	30	70
18	30	70
19	30	70
20	30	70
21	29	71
22	29	71
23	29	71
24	28	72
25	28	72
26	27	73
27	27	73
28	27	73
29	26	74
30	26	74
31	26	74

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	17	83
3	16	84
4	15	85
5	15	85
6	14	86
7	13	87
8	12	88
9	12	88
10	12	88
11	12	88
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	12	88
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	13	87
19	13	87
20	13	87
21	12	88
22	12	88
23	13	87
24	12	88
25	12	88
26	12	88
27	13	87
28	13	87
29	12	88
30	11	89
31	11	89

	Rain chance (%)
1	69
2	70
3	71
4	71
5	72
6	73
7	73
8	74
9	74
10	74
11	74
12	74
13	74
14	74
15	74
16	74
17	74
18	75
19	75
20	75
21	75
22	75
23	76
24	76
25	76
26	76
27	76
28	77
29	77
30	77
31	77

	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	32	68
2	31	69
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	30	70
13	30	70
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	30	70
17	30	70
18	30	70
19	30	70
20	30	70
21	29	71
22	29	71
23	29	71
24	28	72
25	28	72
26	27	73
27	27	73
28	27	73
29	26	74
30	26	74
31	26	74