Kidal weather in January

In January, Kidal sees average daytime highs of 27°C and overnight lows near 13°C, with 1 mm of rain across 0.3 wet days and about 11 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 7th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 26°C in the first days to 28°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 62% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 54 min at the start of January to 11 h 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Kidal's 11th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Kidal's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 27°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 13°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 1 mm; 0.3 wet days
Daylight: 11 hours; 6:34 AM – 5:34 PM
Cloud cover: 34%; 11th clearest
Wind: 18 km/h; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 5.38 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.4; out of 10

← December Kidal 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

Highs climb over the month, from about 26°C in the first days to 28°C by the end.

A typical January day in Kidal reaches about 27°C in the afternoon and slips back to 13°C overnight — a 13°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 23°C and 31°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)	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	28	28	28
Avg low (°C)	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14

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

How January really feels in Kidal

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.

Kidal weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 7th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	27° / 13°	1	0.3	11	8.4
Feb	30° / 16°	0	0.1	11.4	6.6
Mar	34° / 20°	0	0	11.9	3.8
Apr	39° / 24°	0	0	12.4	0.9
May	41° / 28°	1	0.4	12.9	0.0
Jun	41° / 29°	3	1.2	13.1	0.0
Jul	40° / 28°	9	3.1	13	0.2
Aug	39° / 27°	17	5.3	12.6	0.8
Sep	39° / 27°	5	1.7	12.1	0.6
Oct	37° / 24°	2	0.3	11.6	1.7
Nov	33° / 19°	0	0	11.1	4.7
Dec	28° / 15°	0	0	10.9	7.5

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 62% 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 27%.

	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	71	71	71	71	71	71	71	72	72	73	74	74	73	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	73	73	73	73	73	74	74	74	74	75
Cloudier (%)	28	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	28	28	27	26	26	27	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	27	27	27	27	27	26	26	26	26	25

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

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Kidal gets around 1 mm of rain over 0.3 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 1% and peaks near 1% 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 (%)	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0

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

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 18 km/h in January, the windiest month of the year.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 18 km/h on the calmest days to 19 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)	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	18	light breeze
2	19	light breeze
3	19	light breeze
4	19	light breeze
5	19	light breeze
6	19	light breeze
7	19	light breeze
8	19	light breeze
9	19	light breeze
10	19	light breeze
11	19	light breeze
12	18	light breeze
13	18	light breeze
14	18	light breeze
15	18	light breeze
16	18	light breeze
17	18	light breeze
18	18	light breeze
19	18	light breeze
20	18	light breeze
21	18	light breeze
22	18	light breeze
23	18	light breeze
24	18	light breeze
25	18	light breeze
26	18	light breeze
27	18	light breeze
28	18	light breeze
29	18	light breeze
30	18	light breeze
31	18	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 54 min at the start of January to 11 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 18 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 6:30 AM to 6:33 AM, and sunset from 5:25 PM to 5:43 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)	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.2	11.2
Sunrise (AM)	6:30	6:31	6:31	6:31	6:31	6:32	6:32	6:32	6:32	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:33
Sunset (PM)	5:25	5:25	5:26	5:27	5:27	5:28	5:28	5:29	5:30	5:30	5:31	5:31	5:32	5:33	5:33	5:34	5:34	5:35	5:36	5:36	5:37	5:37	5:38	5:39	5:39	5:40	5:40	5:41	5:42	5:42	5:43

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.9	6:30	5:25
2	10.9	6:31	5:25
3	10.9	6:31	5:26
4	10.9	6:31	5:27
5	10.9	6:31	5:27
6	10.9	6:32	5:28
7	10.9	6:32	5:28
8	10.9	6:32	5:29
9	11.0	6:32	5:30
10	11.0	6:33	5:30
11	11.0	6:33	5:31
12	11.0	6:33	5:31
13	11.0	6:33	5:32
14	11.0	6:33	5:33
15	11.0	6:33	5:33
16	11.0	6:34	5:34
17	11.0	6:34	5:34
18	11.0	6:34	5:35
19	11.0	6:34	5:36
20	11.0	6:34	5:36
21	11.1	6:34	5:37
22	11.1	6:34	5:37
23	11.1	6:34	5:38
24	11.1	6:34	5:39
25	11.1	6:34	5:39
26	11.1	6:33	5:40
27	11.1	6:33	5:40
28	11.1	6:33	5:41
29	11.1	6:33	5:42
30	11.2	6:33	5:42
31	11.2	6:33	5:43

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 5.38 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 5.16 kWh/m² to a high of 7.49 kWh/m² in April across the year — January's 5.38 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)	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7
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	5.2	Bright
7	5.2	Bright
8	5.3	Bright
9	5.3	Bright
10	5.3	Bright
11	5.3	Bright
12	5.3	Bright
13	5.3	Bright
14	5.3	Bright
15	5.4	Bright
16	5.4	Bright
17	5.4	Bright
18	5.4	Bright
19	5.4	Bright
20	5.5	Bright
21	5.5	Bright
22	5.5	Bright
23	5.5	Bright
24	5.5	Bright
25	5.6	Bright
26	5.6	Bright
27	5.6	Bright
28	5.7	Bright
29	5.7	Bright
30	5.7	Bright
31	5.7	Bright

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Kidal

In seasonPeak

In January, Kidal sits inside its dust season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Kidal sees dust haze year-round, heaviest in June.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Kidal?

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

8.4

Sightseeing

1st-best month of the year

8.5

Beach & pool

3rd-best month of the year

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

What to pack for Kidal in January

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

In January, Kidal sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 13°C. Worth packing: light clothes and sun protection.

light clothessun protection

UV index in Kidal in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 7 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Kidal peaks around March 20 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 7 (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)	7	9	12	11	11	10	9	10	11	10	8	6
Level	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high	High

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	7	Very high
Feb	9	Very high
Mar	12	Extreme
Apr	11	Extreme
May	11	Extreme
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	9	Very high
Aug	10	Extreme
Sep	11	Extreme
Oct	10	Very high
Nov	8	Very high
Dec	6	High

Air quality in Kidal 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 Kidal is worst in January — around 108 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.2× the cleanest month (September, 50 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)	108	104	94	71	78	78	77	66	50	63	63	100
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	108	Unhealthy
Feb	104	Unhealthy
Mar	94	Unhealthy
Apr	71	Unhealthy
May	78	Unhealthy
Jun	78	Unhealthy
Jul	77	Unhealthy
Aug	66	Unhealthy
Sep	50	Poor
Oct	63	Unhealthy
Nov	63	Unhealthy
Dec	100	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Kidal?

Kidal sits at 18.4°N, 1.4°E, 457 m above sea level, in Mali. The nearest listed city is Bourem, 249 km away.

Topography around Kidal

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kidal has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 48 m around an average of 460 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 184 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 487 m.

The land around Kidal is covered by bare terrain (90%) within 3 km, bare terrain (94%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (90%) within 80 km.

3 km

48 m

bare terrain 90%

16 km

184 m

bare terrain 94%

80 km

487 m

bare terrain 90%

grasslandartificial surfacesbare terrain

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

January weather nearby: Bourem 249 km · Gao 287 km · Andéranboukan 376 km · I-n-Tillit 379 km · Ayorou 416 km · Méhana 451 km · Tillabéri 471 km · Téra 498 km

Mali travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 4; Do Not Travel
Power plugs: Type C / E; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 34% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $1,193; 2025
Happiness: 4.6 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Road deaths: 22.7; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank
English: Very low; EF EPI 408
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 Kidal (18.4434°, 1.4092°, elevation 457 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	26	13
2	26	13
3	26	13
4	26	13
5	26	13
6	26	13
7	26	13
8	26	13
9	26	13
10	26	13
11	26	13
12	26	13
13	26	13
14	26	13
15	26	13
16	27	13
17	27	13
18	27	13
19	27	13
20	27	14
21	27	14
22	27	14
23	27	14
24	27	14
25	28	14
26	28	14
27	28	14
28	28	14
29	28	14
30	28	14
31	28	14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

	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