Merzouga weather in January

In January, Merzouga sees average daytime highs of 18°C and overnight lows near 6°C, with 5 mm of rain across 1.2 wet days and about 10.2 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 6th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 18°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 74% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 hours at the start of January to 10 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Merzouga's 5th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Merzouga's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 18°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 6°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 5 mm; 1.2 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 12 min; 7:20 AM – 5:31 PM
Cloud cover: 24%; 5th clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 3.96 kWh/m²
Travel score: 7.8; out of 10

← December Merzouga 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 18°C through the month.

A typical January day in Merzouga reaches about 18°C in the afternoon and slips back to 6°C overnight — a 13°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 14°C and 22°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)	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19
Avg low (°C)	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6

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

How January really feels in Merzouga

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.

Merzouga weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 6th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	18° / 6°	5	1.2	10.2	7.8
Feb	21° / 8°	6	1	10.9	8.4
Mar	25° / 12°	6	1.1	11.8	8.9
Apr	29° / 16°	3	0.6	12.7	7.3
May	33° / 21°	4	0.7	13.6	4.3
Jun	38° / 25°	1	0.3	14	1.2
Jul	42° / 29°	1	0.1	13.8	0.0
Aug	41° / 28°	2	0.5	13.1	0.1
Sep	36° / 24°	7	1.1	12.2	2.8
Oct	30° / 18°	8	1.2	11.2	6.7
Nov	23° / 11°	6	1.3	10.4	8.7
Dec	19° / 7°	4	0.9	10	8.0

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 74% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 9% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 18%.

	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 (%)	81	81	82	82	81	81	81	81	81	81	81	81	81	81	81	82	82	82	83	83	84	84	84	84	85	85	84	84	83	83	83
Cloudier (%)	19	19	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	17	17	16	16	16	16	15	15	16	16	17	17	17

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

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Merzouga 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 5% 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 (%)	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4

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

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 11 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 10 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)	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	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	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

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

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 hours at the start of January to 10 h 30 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 7:19 AM to 7:15 AM, and sunset from 5:20 PM to 5:44 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)	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.5	10.5
Sunrise (AM)	7:19	7:19	7:19	7:19	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:19	7:19	7:19	7:19	7:19	7:18	7:18	7:18	7:17	7:17	7:16	7:16	7:15	7:15
Sunset (PM)	5:20	5:20	5:21	5:22	5:22	5:23	5:24	5:25	5:25	5:26	5:27	5:28	5:28	5:29	5:30	5:31	5:32	5:33	5:33	5:34	5:35	5:36	5:37	5:38	5:39	5:40	5:40	5:41	5:42	5:43	5:44

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.0	7:19	5:20
2	10.0	7:19	5:20
3	10.0	7:19	5:21
4	10.0	7:19	5:22
5	10.0	7:20	5:22
6	10.1	7:20	5:23
7	10.1	7:20	5:24
8	10.1	7:20	5:25
9	10.1	7:20	5:25
10	10.1	7:20	5:26
11	10.1	7:20	5:27
12	10.1	7:20	5:28
13	10.1	7:20	5:28
14	10.2	7:20	5:29
15	10.2	7:20	5:30
16	10.2	7:20	5:31
17	10.2	7:20	5:32
18	10.2	7:19	5:33
19	10.2	7:19	5:33
20	10.3	7:19	5:34
21	10.3	7:19	5:35
22	10.3	7:19	5:36
23	10.3	7:18	5:37
24	10.3	7:18	5:38
25	10.4	7:18	5:39
26	10.4	7:17	5:40
27	10.4	7:17	5:40
28	10.4	7:16	5:41
29	10.4	7:16	5:42
30	10.5	7:15	5:43
31	10.5	7:15	5:44

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 3.96 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.6 kWh/m² to a high of 8.11 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 3.96 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)	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.4
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	3.7	Moderate
2	3.7	Moderate
3	3.7	Moderate
4	3.7	Moderate
5	3.7	Moderate
6	3.8	Moderate
7	3.8	Moderate
8	3.8	Moderate
9	3.8	Moderate
10	3.8	Moderate
11	3.8	Moderate
12	3.8	Moderate
13	3.9	Moderate
14	3.9	Moderate
15	3.9	Moderate
16	3.9	Moderate
17	4.0	Moderate
18	4.0	Moderate
19	4.0	Bright
20	4.0	Bright
21	4.1	Bright
22	4.1	Bright
23	4.1	Bright
24	4.2	Bright
25	4.2	Bright
26	4.2	Bright
27	4.3	Bright
28	4.3	Bright
29	4.3	Bright
30	4.4	Bright
31	4.4	Bright

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Merzouga

In seasonPeak

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

Merzouga sees seasonal dust haze (April–September), heaviest in July.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Merzouga?

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

7.8

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

2.7

Beach & pool

11th-best month of the year

January is one of the better times to visit Merzouga for general sightseeing.

What to pack for Merzouga in January

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

In January, Merzouga sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 6°C. Worth packing: a warm layer.

a warm layer

UV index in Merzouga in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 5 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Merzouga peaks around July 17 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 4 (moderate).

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)	5	5	8	9	9	10	10	10	9	8	5	4
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Very high	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	5	Moderate
Feb	5	Moderate
Mar	8	Very high
Apr	9	Very high
May	9	Very high
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	10	Extreme
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	9	Very high
Oct	8	Very high
Nov	5	Moderate
Dec	4	Moderate

Air quality in Merzouga 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 Merzouga is worst in April — around 61 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 3.9× the cleanest month (December, 16 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)	21	33	42	61	58	56	51	53	46	31	20	16
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Poor	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	21	Moderate
Feb	33	Moderate
Mar	42	Poor
Apr	61	Unhealthy
May	58	Unhealthy
Jun	56	Unhealthy
Jul	51	Poor
Aug	53	Poor
Sep	46	Poor
Oct	31	Moderate
Nov	20	Moderate
Dec	16	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Merzouga?

Merzouga sits at 31.1°N, 4.0°W, 0 m above sea level, in Morocco. The nearest listed city is Moulay Ali Cherif, 31 km away.

Topography around Merzouga

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Merzouga has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 116 m around an average of 706 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 242 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 703 m.

The land around Merzouga is covered by bare terrain (97%) within 3 km, bare terrain (100%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (99%) within 80 km.

3 km

116 m

bare terrain 97%

16 km

242 m

bare terrain 100%

80 km

703 m

bare terrain 99%

artificial surfacesbare terrain

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

January weather nearby: Moulay Ali Cherif 31 km · Reçani 32 km · Arfoud 43 km · Errachidia 100 km · Goulmima 111 km · Rich 137 km · Tinerhir 152 km · Béchar 180 km

Morocco travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type C / E; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 42% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $4,672; 2025
Happiness: 4.6 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 80%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.7; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 17; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Lower middle; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 492
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 Merzouga (31.0994°, -4.0134°, elevation 0 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	18	5
2	18	5
3	18	5
4	18	5
5	18	5
6	18	5
7	18	5
8	18	5
9	18	5
10	18	5
11	18	5
12	18	5
13	18	5
14	18	5
15	18	5
16	18	5
17	18	5
18	18	5
19	18	5
20	18	6
21	18	6
22	18	6
23	18	6
24	18	6
25	18	6
26	18	6
27	19	6
28	19	6
29	19	6
30	19	6
31	19	6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

	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