Ełk weather in January

In January, Ełk sees average daytime highs of -1°C and overnight lows near -5°C, with 41 mm of precipitation across 10.7 wet days and about 7.8 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near -1°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 8% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 7 h 12 min at the start of January to 8 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Ełk's 10th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Ełk's year-round climate.

Daytime high
-1°
12th warmest
Overnight low
-5°
1st coldest
Precipitation
41 mm
10.7 wet days
Daylight
7 h 42 min
7:49 AM – 3:31 PM
Cloud cover
83%
10th clearest
Wind
15 km/h
1st windiest
Solar energy
0.64 kWh/m²
Travel score
0.0
out of 10

Ełk is city and urban gmina of Poland.

Air quality
Good
PM10 19.7 µg/m³ · 2019
Density
2,656/km²
people per km²
Founded
1237

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

Temperature in January

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near -1°C through the month.

A typical January day in Ełk reaches about -1°C in the afternoon and slips back to -5°C overnight — a 4°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between -8°C and 5°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C cooler than December and about 1°C cooler than February.

-20°-10°10°151015202531
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
10-4
20-4
30-4
40-4
50-4
60-4
70-4
80-4
90-4
100-4
110-4
120-4
130-4
140-4
150-4
160-5
17-1-5
18-1-5
19-1-5
20-1-5
21-1-5
22-1-5
23-1-5
24-1-5
25-1-5
26-1-5
27-1-5
28-1-5
29-1-5
30-1-5
31-1-5

How January really feels in Ełk

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 31 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C
0
heat index over the day's high
Days feeling ≤ C
31
16 feel bitter (≤ -10°C)

The story in January is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Ełk weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan-1° / -5°4110.77.27.80.0
Feb / -4°379.46.29.40.0
Mar / -2°4110.2411.50.4
Apr12° / 429.21.113.73.3
May18° / 6111.90.115.65.5
Jun21° / 11°7412.4016.76.0
Jul23° / 14°8112.2016.36.5
Aug23° / 13°7211.4014.66.5
Sep17° / 589.7012.55.4
Oct11° / 519.80.510.22.7
Nov / 41102.88.30.3
Dec / -3°4410.15.77.30.0

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 8% 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 83%.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
11783
21783
31783
41783
51783
61684
71684
81684
91684
101684
111783
121783
131684
141684
151783
161783
171783
181882
191882
201882
211882
221882
231882
241882
251882
261882
271882
281882
291882
301882
311981

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitationSnow

Ełk gets around 41 mm of rain and snow over 10.7 wet days in January. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 34% and peaks near 37% on the wettest days, and about 7 days bring snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%151015202531
Rain chance (%)Snow chance (%)
13721
23721
33721
43622
53622
63622
73622
83522
93422
103421
113321
123221
133221
143122
153122
163122
173122
183122
193122
203123
213123
223223
233223
243323
253423
263423
273523
283523
293523
303522
313522

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.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Dry (%)
1100
2100
3100
4100
5100
6100
7100
8100
9100
10100
11100
12100
13100
14100
15100
16100
17100
18100
19100
20100
21100
22100
23100
24100
25100
26100
27100
28100
29100
30100
31100

Wind in January

Winds average 15 km/h in January, the windiest month of the year.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 15 km/h on the calmest days to 15 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

05101520151015202531
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
115light breeze
215light breeze
315light breeze
415light breeze
515light breeze
615light breeze
715light breeze
815light breeze
915light breeze
1015light breeze
1115light breeze
1215light breeze
1315light breeze
1415light breeze
1515light breeze
1615light breeze
1715light breeze
1815light breeze
1915light breeze
2015light breeze
2115light breeze
2215light breeze
2315light breeze
2415light breeze
2515light breeze
2615light breeze
2715light breeze
2815light breeze
2915light breeze
3015light breeze
3115light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 7 h 12 min at the start of January to 8 h 30 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 78 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 7:56 AM to 7:30 AM, and sunset from 3:11 PM to 3:58 PM.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AM151015202531
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
17.27:563:11
27.37:563:12
37.37:563:13
47.37:563:14
57.37:563:15
67.47:553:17
77.47:553:18
87.47:543:19
97.47:543:20
107.57:533:22
117.57:533:23
127.57:523:25
137.67:513:26
147.67:503:28
157.77:503:29
167.77:493:31
177.77:483:33
187.87:473:34
197.87:463:36
207.97:453:38
217.97:443:39
228.07:423:41
238.07:413:43
248.17:403:45
258.17:393:46
268.27:373:48
278.27:363:50
288.37:353:52
298.37:333:54
308.47:323:56
318.57:303:58

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 0.64 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.43 kWh/m² to a high of 5.41 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 0.64 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

00.511.52151015202531
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
10.5Dim
20.5Dim
30.5Dim
40.5Dim
50.5Dim
60.5Dim
70.5Dim
80.5Dim
90.5Dim
100.6Dim
110.6Dim
120.6Dim
130.6Dim
140.6Dim
150.6Dim
160.6Dim
170.7Dim
180.7Dim
190.7Dim
200.7Dim
210.7Dim
220.7Dim
230.8Dim
240.8Dim
250.8Dim
260.8Dim
270.8Dim
280.8Dim
290.9Dim
300.9Dim
310.9Dim
Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Ełk?

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

0.0
Sightseeing
10th-best month of the year
0.0
Beach & pool
8th-best month of the year

January is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Ełk.

What to pack for Ełk in January

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

In January, Ełk sees daytime highs around -1°C and nights near -5°C. Pack a warm layer and a heavy coat. Worth having: rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain gear

UV index in Ełk in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 1. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Ełk peaks around June 23 at about 6 (high) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 0 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 23UV 6Dec 19UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr4Moderate
May5High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Low
Nov1Low
Dec0Low
Location & terrain

Where is Ełk?

Ełk sits at 53.8°N, 22.4°E, 127 m above sea level, in Poland. The nearest listed city is Grajewo, 21 km away.

AugustówPiszGiżyckoSuwałkiGierłożMrągowo

Topography around Ełk

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ełk has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 42 m around an average of 130 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 107 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 274 m.

The land around Ełk is covered by trees (31%), grassland (26%) and artificial surfaces (25%) within 3 km, trees (34%), grassland (29%) and cropland (28%) within 16 km, and trees (38%), grassland (31%) and cropland (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
42 m
16 km
107 m
80 km
274 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
January weather nearby: Grajewo 21 km · Olecko 25 km · Augustów 40 km · Pisz 43 km · Giżycko 46 km · Suwałki 49 km · Gierłoż 63 km · Mrągowo 70 km

Poland travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / E
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 52% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$28,420
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
89%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
9.4
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 600
Religion
Roman Catholic 71%refused to answer 21%no religion 7%

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 Ełk (53.8282°, 22.3647°, elevation 127 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).