Invercargill weather in January

In January, Invercargill sees average daytime highs of 17°C and overnight lows near 11°C, with 118 mm of rain across 14.2 wet days and about 15.2 hours of daylight. It is the 2nd-warmest and 2nd-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 17°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 13% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 15 h 30 min at the start of January to 14 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Invercargill's 7th-clearest and 3rd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Invercargill's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 17°; 2nd warmest
Overnight low: 11°; 11th coldest
Rainfall: 118 mm; 14.2 wet days
Daylight: 15 h 12 min; 6:19 AM – 9:33 PM
Cloud cover: 71%; 7th clearest
Wind: 20 km/h; 3rd windiest
Solar energy: 6.06 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.9; out of 10

Invercargill is city in New Zealand's Southland region.

Air quality: Good; PM10 23.6 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 118/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1853

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

← December Invercargill 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 17°C through the month.

A typical January day in Invercargill reaches about 17°C in the afternoon and slips back to 11°C overnight — a 6°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 13°C and 22°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C warmer than 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)	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
Avg low (°C)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

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

Invercargill weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 2nd-warmest and 2nd-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	17° / 11°	118	14.2	15.2	4.9
Feb	17° / 12°	97	12.1	14	5.1
Mar	16° / 10°	98	13.5	12.4	4.5
Apr	14° / 9°	95	13.5	10.7	3.7
May	12° / 7°	107	15.6	9.2	2.7
Jun	10° / 5°	93	15.6	8.5	1.9
Jul	9° / 5°	84	14.9	8.8	1.8
Aug	10° / 5°	81	14.8	10	2.2
Sep	12° / 6°	93	15.2	11.6	2.7
Oct	13° / 8°	119	17.5	13.3	3.0
Nov	14° / 9°	111	16.4	14.8	3.5
Dec	16° / 10°	109	15.5	15.5	4.3

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 13% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 18% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 69%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	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 (%)	29	29	29	28	28	28	29	29	29	29	29	29	31	30	30	31	32	32	33	32	32	33	34	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	34
Cloudier (%)	71	71	71	72	72	72	71	71	71	71	71	71	69	70	70	69	68	68	67	68	68	67	66	66	66	66	66	65	65	65	66

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	29	71
2	29	71
3	29	71
4	28	72
5	28	72
6	28	72
7	29	71
8	29	71
9	29	71
10	29	71
11	29	71
12	29	71
13	31	69
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	31	69
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	33	67
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	33	67
23	34	66
24	34	66
25	34	66
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	35	65
29	35	65
30	35	65
31	34	66

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Invercargill gets around 118 mm of rain over 14.2 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 46% and peaks near 49% 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 (%)	49	49	49	49	49	49	48	48	48	47	47	47	47	46	46	46	45	45	45	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	43	43

	Rain chance (%)
1	49
2	49
3	49
4	49
5	49
6	49
7	48
8	48
9	48
10	47
11	47
12	47
13	47
14	46
15	46
16	46
17	45
18	45
19	45
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	44
24	44
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	43
31	43

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 86% 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 (%)	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	91	90	90	90	89	89	88	88	87	85	85	84	83	82	80	80	79	79	78	77	77	77	78
Comfortable (%)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	11	11	12	12	13	14	14	15	16	17	18	18	19	19	20	20	20	20	19
Humid (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	91	9	0
2	91	9	0
3	91	9	0
4	91	9	0
5	91	9	0
6	91	9	0
7	91	9	0
8	91	9	0
9	91	9	0
10	90	10	0
11	90	10	0
12	90	10	0
13	89	11	0
14	89	11	0
15	88	12	0
16	88	12	0
17	87	13	0
18	85	14	1
19	85	14	1
20	84	15	1
21	83	16	1
22	82	17	1
23	80	18	2
24	80	18	2
25	79	19	2
26	79	19	2
27	78	20	2
28	77	20	3
29	77	20	3
30	77	20	3
31	78	19	3

Wind in January

Winds average 20 km/h in January.

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

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 15 h 30 min at the start of January to 14 h 42 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 48 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 6:03 AM to 6:40 AM, and sunset from 9:36 PM to 9:20 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)	15.5	15.5	15.5	15.5	15.5	15.5	15.4	15.4	15.4	15.4	15.4	15.3	15.3	15.3	15.3	15.2	15.2	15.2	15.1	15.1	15.1	15.0	15.0	15.0	14.9	14.9	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.7	14.7
Sunrise (AM)	6:03	6:04	6:05	6:06	6:07	6:08	6:09	6:10	6:11	6:12	6:13	6:14	6:16	6:17	6:18	6:19	6:20	6:22	6:23	6:24	6:26	6:27	6:28	6:30	6:31	6:33	6:34	6:35	6:37	6:38	6:40
Sunset (PM)	9:36	9:36	9:36	9:36	9:36	9:36	9:36	9:36	9:35	9:35	9:35	9:34	9:34	9:34	9:33	9:33	9:32	9:31	9:31	9:30	9:29	9:29	9:28	9:27	9:26	9:25	9:24	9:23	9:22	9:21	9:20

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	15.5	6:03	9:36
2	15.5	6:04	9:36
3	15.5	6:05	9:36
4	15.5	6:06	9:36
5	15.5	6:07	9:36
6	15.5	6:08	9:36
7	15.4	6:09	9:36
8	15.4	6:10	9:36
9	15.4	6:11	9:35
10	15.4	6:12	9:35
11	15.4	6:13	9:35
12	15.3	6:14	9:34
13	15.3	6:16	9:34
14	15.3	6:17	9:34
15	15.3	6:18	9:33
16	15.2	6:19	9:33
17	15.2	6:20	9:32
18	15.2	6:22	9:31
19	15.1	6:23	9:31
20	15.1	6:24	9:30
21	15.1	6:26	9:29
22	15.0	6:27	9:29
23	15.0	6:28	9:28
24	15.0	6:30	9:27
25	14.9	6:31	9:26
26	14.9	6:33	9:25
27	14.8	6:34	9:24
28	14.8	6:35	9:23
29	14.8	6:37	9:22
30	14.7	6:38	9:21
31	14.7	6:40	9:20

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 6.06 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.05 kWh/m² to a high of 6.11 kWh/m² in December across the year — January's 6.06 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

	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)	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.5
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	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	6.5	Intense
2	6.4	Intense
3	6.4	Intense
4	6.4	Intense
5	6.3	Intense
6	6.3	Intense
7	6.2	Intense
8	6.2	Intense
9	6.1	Intense
10	6.1	Intense
11	6.0	Intense
12	6.0	Intense
13	6.0	Bright
14	6.0	Bright
15	5.9	Bright
16	5.9	Bright
17	5.9	Bright
18	5.8	Bright
19	5.8	Bright
20	5.8	Bright
21	5.8	Bright
22	5.8	Bright
23	5.7	Bright
24	5.7	Bright
25	5.7	Bright
26	5.7	Bright
27	5.6	Bright
28	5.6	Bright
29	5.6	Bright
30	5.5	Bright
31	5.5	Bright

Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Invercargill?

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

4.9

Sightseeing

2nd-best month of the year

1.3

Beach & pool

2nd-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Invercargill for sightseeing.

What to pack for Invercargill in January

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

In January, Invercargill sees daytime highs around 17°C and nights near 11°C. Pack rain gear and sun protection. Worth having: a windbreaker. About 14 days see rain.

rain gearsun protectiona windbreaker

Sea temperature near Invercargill in January

The nearest coast averages about 15°C in January — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 17 km away) is warmest in February at about 15°C and coldest in August near 10°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	15	15	15	14	13	11	11	10	11	12	13	14
Comfort	Bracing	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	15	Bracing
Feb	15	Cool
Mar	15	Bracing
Apr	14	Bracing
May	13	Bracing
Jun	11	Bracing
Jul	11	Bracing
Aug	10	Bracing
Sep	11	Bracing
Oct	12	Bracing
Nov	13	Bracing
Dec	14	Bracing

UV index in Invercargill in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 10 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Invercargill peaks around January 15 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 6 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	10	8	5	3	1	1	1	2	3	5	7	9
Level	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	10	Very high
Feb	8	Very high
Mar	5	High
Apr	3	Moderate
May	1	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	1	Low
Aug	2	Low
Sep	3	Moderate
Oct	5	High
Nov	7	Very high
Dec	9	Very high

Location & terrain

Where is Invercargill?

Invercargill sits at 46.4°S, 168.3°E, 6 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Queenstown, 154 km away.

Topography around Invercargill

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Invercargill has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 21 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 193 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,492 m.

The land around Invercargill is covered by grassland (45%) and artificial surfaces (38%) within 3 km, grassland (69%) within 16 km, and grassland (41%) and water (39%) within 80 km.

3 km

21 m

grassland 45%

16 km

193 m

grassland 69%

80 km

1,492 m

grassland 41%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland

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

January weather nearby: Queenstown 154 km · Dunedin 176 km · Wanaka 199 km · Tekapo 314 km · Timaru 318 km · Franz Josef 365 km · Ashburton 384 km · Rolleston 446 km

New Zealand travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type I; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 86% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $49,591; 2025
Happiness: 7.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 100%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.5; per 100k, 2022
Road deaths: 9.6; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
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 Invercargill (-46.4°, 168.35°, elevation 6 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. 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	11
2	17	11
3	17	11
4	17	11
5	17	11
6	17	11
7	17	11
8	17	11
9	17	11
10	17	11
11	17	11
12	17	11
13	17	11
14	17	11
15	17	11
16	17	11
17	17	11
18	17	11
19	17	11
20	18	12
21	18	12
22	18	12
23	18	12
24	18	12
25	18	12
26	18	12
27	18	12
28	18	12
29	18	12
30	18	12
31	18	12

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	29	71
2	29	71
3	29	71
4	28	72
5	28	72
6	28	72
7	29	71
8	29	71
9	29	71
10	29	71
11	29	71
12	29	71
13	31	69
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	31	69
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	33	67
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	33	67
23	34	66
24	34	66
25	34	66
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	35	65
29	35	65
30	35	65
31	34	66

	Rain chance (%)
1	49
2	49
3	49
4	49
5	49
6	49
7	48
8	48
9	48
10	47
11	47
12	47
13	47
14	46
15	46
16	46
17	45
18	45
19	45
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	44
24	44
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	43
31	43

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	91	9	0
2	91	9	0
3	91	9	0
4	91	9	0
5	91	9	0
6	91	9	0
7	91	9	0
8	91	9	0
9	91	9	0
10	90	10	0
11	90	10	0
12	90	10	0
13	89	11	0
14	89	11	0
15	88	12	0
16	88	12	0
17	87	13	0
18	85	14	1
19	85	14	1
20	84	15	1
21	83	16	1
22	82	17	1
23	80	18	2
24	80	18	2
25	79	19	2
26	79	19	2
27	78	20	2
28	77	20	3
29	77	20	3
30	77	20	3
31	78	19	3

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	29	71
2	29	71
3	29	71
4	28	72
5	28	72
6	28	72
7	29	71
8	29	71
9	29	71
10	29	71
11	29	71
12	29	71
13	31	69
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	31	69
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	33	67
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	33	67
23	34	66
24	34	66
25	34	66
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	35	65
29	35	65
30	35	65
31	34	66

	Rain chance (%)
1	49
2	49
3	49
4	49
5	49
6	49
7	48
8	48
9	48
10	47
11	47
12	47
13	47
14	46
15	46
16	46
17	45
18	45
19	45
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	44
24	44
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	43
31	43

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	91	9	0
2	91	9	0
3	91	9	0
4	91	9	0
5	91	9	0
6	91	9	0
7	91	9	0
8	91	9	0
9	91	9	0
10	90	10	0
11	90	10	0
12	90	10	0
13	89	11	0
14	89	11	0
15	88	12	0
16	88	12	0
17	87	13	0
18	85	14	1
19	85	14	1
20	84	15	1
21	83	16	1
22	82	17	1
23	80	18	2
24	80	18	2
25	79	19	2
26	79	19	2
27	78	20	2
28	77	20	3
29	77	20	3
30	77	20	3
31	78	19	3

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	29	71
2	29	71
3	29	71
4	28	72
5	28	72
6	28	72
7	29	71
8	29	71
9	29	71
10	29	71
11	29	71
12	29	71
13	31	69
14	30	70
15	30	70
16	31	69
17	32	68
18	32	68
19	33	67
20	32	68
21	32	68
22	33	67
23	34	66
24	34	66
25	34	66
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	35	65
29	35	65
30	35	65
31	34	66

	Rain chance (%)
1	49
2	49
3	49
4	49
5	49
6	49
7	48
8	48
9	48
10	47
11	47
12	47
13	47
14	46
15	46
16	46
17	45
18	45
19	45
20	44
21	44
22	44
23	44
24	44
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	43
31	43

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	91	9	0
2	91	9	0
3	91	9	0
4	91	9	0
5	91	9	0
6	91	9	0
7	91	9	0
8	91	9	0
9	91	9	0
10	90	10	0
11	90	10	0
12	90	10	0
13	89	11	0
14	89	11	0
15	88	12	0
16	88	12	0
17	87	13	0
18	85	14	1
19	85	14	1
20	84	15	1
21	83	16	1
22	82	17	1
23	80	18	2
24	80	18	2
25	79	19	2
26	79	19	2
27	78	20	2
28	77	20	3
29	77	20	3
30	77	20	3
31	78	19	3