Smara weather in January

In January, Smara sees average daytime highs of 22°C and overnight lows near 10°C, with 3 mm of rain across 0.9 wet days and about 10.5 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 5th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 22°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 66% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 18 min at the start of January to 10 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Smara's 9th-clearest and 9th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Smara's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 22°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 10°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 3 mm; 0.9 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 30 min; 7:41 AM – 6:11 PM
Cloud cover: 31%; 9th clearest
Wind: 16 km/h; 9th windiest
Solar energy: 4.2 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.6; out of 10

Smara is city in Western Sahara.

Founded: 1869

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

← December Smara 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 22°C through the month.

A typical January day in Smara reaches about 22°C in the afternoon and slips back to 10°C overnight — a 12°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 18°C and 26°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C cooler than 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)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22
Avg low (°C)	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11

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

How January really feels in Smara

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.

Smara weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 5th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	22° / 10°	3	0.9	10.5	8.6
Feb	24° / 11°	7	1.3	11.1	8.9
Mar	26° / 13°	3	0.6	11.8	8.7
Apr	28° / 14°	2	0.2	12.6	8.3
May	30° / 16°	0	0.1	13.3	6.9
Jun	32° / 17°	0	0.2	13.6	5.5
Jul	36° / 20°	0	0	13.5	3.1
Aug	36° / 21°	1	0.4	12.9	2.5
Sep	33° / 19°	3	0.5	12.2	4.4
Oct	30° / 18°	9	0.7	11.4	6.3
Nov	26° / 14°	3	0.5	10.7	8.5
Dec	23° / 12°	5	0.7	10.4	8.8

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 66% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 12% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 21%.

	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 (%)	78	79	79	79	79	80	80	80	80	80	80	79	79	79	79	79	79	79	79	78	78	78	77	77	77	77	77	77	77	78	79
Cloudier (%)	22	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	21

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	78	22
2	79	21
3	79	21
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	80	20
7	80	20
8	80	20
9	80	20
10	80	20
11	80	20
12	79	21
13	79	21
14	79	21
15	79	21
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	77	23
24	77	23
25	77	23
26	77	23
27	77	23
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	78	22
31	79	21

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Smara gets around 3 mm of rain over 0.9 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 3% and peaks near 4% 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 (%)	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4

	Rain chance (%)
1	1
2	1
3	2
4	2
5	2
6	2
7	3
8	3
9	3
10	3
11	3
12	3
13	3
14	3
15	3
16	3
17	3
18	3
19	3
20	3
21	3
22	3
23	3
24	3
25	3
26	3
27	3
28	4
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 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 (%)	98	98	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	98	98
Comfortable (%)	2	2	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	2	2

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
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	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
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	98	2
31	98	2

Wind in January

Winds average 16 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 16 km/h on the calmest days to 16 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)	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	16	16	16	16	16
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	16	light breeze
2	16	light breeze
3	16	light breeze
4	16	light breeze
5	16	light breeze
6	16	light breeze
7	16	light breeze
8	16	light breeze
9	16	light breeze
10	16	light breeze
11	16	light breeze
12	16	light breeze
13	16	light breeze
14	16	light breeze
15	16	light breeze
16	16	light breeze
17	16	light breeze
18	16	light breeze
19	16	light breeze
20	16	light breeze
21	16	light breeze
22	16	light breeze
23	16	light breeze
24	16	light breeze
25	16	light breeze
26	16	light breeze
27	16	light breeze
28	16	light breeze
29	16	light breeze
30	16	light breeze
31	16	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 18 min at the start of January to 10 h 42 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 24 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 7:39 AM to 7:38 AM, and sunset from 6:00 PM to 6:22 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)	10.3	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7
Sunrise (AM)	7:39	7:40	7:40	7:40	7:40	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:41	7:40	7:40	7:40	7:40	7:39	7:39	7:39	7:38	7:38
Sunset (PM)	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:02	6:03	6:03	6:04	6:05	6:06	6:06	6:07	6:08	6:08	6:09	6:10	6:11	6:11	6:12	6:13	6:14	6:14	6:15	6:16	6:17	6:18	6:18	6:19	6:20	6:21	6:21	6:22

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.3	7:39	6:00
2	10.4	7:40	6:01
3	10.4	7:40	6:01
4	10.4	7:40	6:02
5	10.4	7:40	6:03
6	10.4	7:41	6:03
7	10.4	7:41	6:04
8	10.4	7:41	6:05
9	10.4	7:41	6:06
10	10.4	7:41	6:06
11	10.4	7:41	6:07
12	10.4	7:41	6:08
13	10.5	7:41	6:08
14	10.5	7:41	6:09
15	10.5	7:41	6:10
16	10.5	7:41	6:11
17	10.5	7:41	6:11
18	10.5	7:41	6:12
19	10.5	7:41	6:13
20	10.5	7:41	6:14
21	10.6	7:41	6:14
22	10.6	7:41	6:15
23	10.6	7:40	6:16
24	10.6	7:40	6:17
25	10.6	7:40	6:18
26	10.6	7:40	6:18
27	10.7	7:39	6:19
28	10.7	7:39	6:20
29	10.7	7:39	6:21
30	10.7	7:38	6:21
31	10.7	7:38	6:22

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 4.2 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.87 kWh/m² to a high of 7.9 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 4.2 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)	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.6	4.6
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	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	4.0	Moderate
2	4.0	Moderate
3	4.0	Moderate
4	4.0	Bright
5	4.0	Bright
6	4.0	Bright
7	4.0	Bright
8	4.1	Bright
9	4.1	Bright
10	4.1	Bright
11	4.1	Bright
12	4.1	Bright
13	4.1	Bright
14	4.2	Bright
15	4.2	Bright
16	4.2	Bright
17	4.2	Bright
18	4.2	Bright
19	4.3	Bright
20	4.3	Bright
21	4.3	Bright
22	4.3	Bright
23	4.3	Bright
24	4.4	Bright
25	4.4	Bright
26	4.4	Bright
27	4.5	Bright
28	4.5	Bright
29	4.5	Bright
30	4.6	Bright
31	4.6	Bright

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Smara

In seasonPeak

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

Smara sees seasonal dust haze (June–September), heaviest in July.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Smara?

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

8.6

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

5.9

Beach & pool

12th-best month of the year

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

What to pack for Smara in January

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

In January, Smara sees daytime highs around 22°C and nights near 10°C. Little to plan around — just the basics.

UV index in Smara 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 Smara peaks around August 18 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	6	9	8	9	10	10	11	10	8	5	4
Level	High	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	5	High
Feb	6	High
Mar	9	Very high
Apr	8	Very high
May	9	Very high
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	10	Very high
Aug	11	Extreme
Sep	10	Very high
Oct	8	Very high
Nov	5	High
Dec	4	Moderate

Air quality in Smara 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 Smara is worst in July — around 66 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.8× the cleanest month (November, 24 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)	38	47	39	38	38	43	66	58	39	30	24	38
Level	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	38	Poor
Feb	47	Poor
Mar	39	Poor
Apr	38	Poor
May	38	Poor
Jun	43	Poor
Jul	66	Unhealthy
Aug	58	Unhealthy
Sep	39	Poor
Oct	30	Moderate
Nov	24	Moderate
Dec	38	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Smara?

Smara sits at 26.7°N, 11.7°W, 188 m above sea level, in Morocco. The nearest listed city is Laayoune, 157 km away.

Topography around Smara

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Smara has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 55 m around an average of 183 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 144 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 418 m.

The land around Smara is covered by bare terrain (89%) within 3 km, bare terrain (99%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (100%) within 80 km.

3 km

55 m

bare terrain 89%

16 km

144 m

bare terrain 99%

80 km

418 m

bare terrain 100%

artificial surfacesbare terrain

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

January weather nearby: Laayoune 157 km · El Marsa 177 km · Tan-Tan 197 km · Boujdour 288 km · Puerto del Rosario 291 km · Guelmim 296 km · Pájara 300 km · Assa 303 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 Smara (26.7384°, -11.6719°, elevation 188 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	22	11
2	22	11
3	22	11
4	22	10
5	22	10
6	22	10
7	22	10
8	22	10
9	22	10
10	22	10
11	22	10
12	22	10
13	22	10
14	22	10
15	22	10
16	22	10
17	22	10
18	22	10
19	22	10
20	22	10
21	22	10
22	22	10
23	22	10
24	22	10
25	22	10
26	22	10
27	22	10
28	22	10
29	22	10
30	22	10
31	22	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	78	22
2	79	21
3	79	21
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	80	20
7	80	20
8	80	20
9	80	20
10	80	20
11	80	20
12	79	21
13	79	21
14	79	21
15	79	21
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	77	23
24	77	23
25	77	23
26	77	23
27	77	23
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	78	22
31	79	21

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
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	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
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	98	2
31	98	2

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	78	22
2	79	21
3	79	21
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	80	20
7	80	20
8	80	20
9	80	20
10	80	20
11	80	20
12	79	21
13	79	21
14	79	21
15	79	21
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	77	23
24	77	23
25	77	23
26	77	23
27	77	23
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	78	22
31	79	21

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
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	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
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	98	2
31	98	2

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	78	22
2	79	21
3	79	21
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	80	20
7	80	20
8	80	20
9	80	20
10	80	20
11	80	20
12	79	21
13	79	21
14	79	21
15	79	21
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	78	22
21	78	22
22	78	22
23	77	23
24	77	23
25	77	23
26	77	23
27	77	23
28	77	23
29	77	23
30	78	22
31	79	21

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
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	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
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	98	2
31	98	2