Al Ula weather in January

In January, Al Ula sees average daytime highs of 21°C and overnight lows near 7°C, with 5 mm of rain across 0.7 wet days and about 10.5 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 1st-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 21°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 75% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 24 min at the start of January to 10 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Al Ula's 12th-clearest and 9th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Al Ula's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 21°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 7°; 1st coldest
Rainfall: 5 mm; 0.7 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 30 min; 7:23 AM – 5:53 PM
Cloud cover: 23%; 12th clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 9th windiest
Solar energy: 4.45 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.5; out of 10

Al Ula is city in Saudi Arabia.

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

← December Al Ula 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 21°C through the month.

A typical January day in Al Ula reaches about 21°C in the afternoon and slips back to 7°C overnight — a 13°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 16°C and 25°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 2°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)	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21
Avg low (°C)	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8

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

How January really feels in Al Ula

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.

Al Ula weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 1st-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	21° / 7°	5	0.7	10.5	8.5
Feb	23° / 9°	2	0.4	11.1	9.1
Mar	27° / 12°	4	0.7	11.8	8.7
Apr	31° / 16°	2	0.7	12.6	5.7
May	36° / 20°	1	0.4	13.3	2.9
Jun	39° / 23°	0	0	13.6	0.9
Jul	40° / 25°	0	0.1	13.5	0.3
Aug	40° / 26°	0	0	12.9	0.0
Sep	39° / 23°	0	0	12.2	1.1
Oct	34° / 19°	1	0.3	11.4	4.3
Nov	27° / 13°	5	1	10.7	8.4
Dec	22° / 9°	4	0.6	10.4	8.9

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 75% of the time in January, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 10% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 14%. 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 (%)	82	82	82	84	84	84	84	84	84	86	86	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	86	86	86	86	87	86	86	86	86	86	86
Cloudier (%)	18	18	18	16	16	16	16	16	16	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	13	14	14	14	14	14	14

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	86	14
11	86	14
12	87	13
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	86	14
24	86	14
25	87	13
26	86	14
27	86	14
28	86	14
29	86	14
30	86	14
31	86	14

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Al Ula gets around 5 mm of rain over 0.7 wet days in January, the wettest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 2% and peaks near 3% 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 (%)	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

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

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 (%)	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	99	99	99	99
Comfortable (%)	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	1	1	1

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
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	99	1
31	99	1

Wind in January

Winds average 10 km/h in January.

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

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 24 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 18 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 7:21 AM to 7:19 AM, and sunset from 5:42 PM to 6:04 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)	10.4	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	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7
Sunrise (AM)	7:21	7:21	7:21	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:23	7:23	7:23	7:23	7:23	7:23	7:23	7:23	7:23	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:22	7:21	7:21	7:21	7:20	7:20	7:20	7:19
Sunset (PM)	5:42	5:43	5:43	5:44	5:45	5:45	5:46	5:47	5:47	5:48	5:49	5:50	5:50	5:51	5:52	5:53	5:53	5:54	5:55	5:56	5:56	5:57	5:58	5:59	5:59	6:00	6:01	6:02	6:02	6:03	6:04

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.4	7:21	5:42
2	10.4	7:21	5:43
3	10.4	7:21	5:43
4	10.4	7:22	5:44
5	10.4	7:22	5:45
6	10.4	7:22	5:45
7	10.4	7:22	5:46
8	10.4	7:22	5:47
9	10.4	7:22	5:47
10	10.4	7:23	5:48
11	10.4	7:23	5:49
12	10.4	7:23	5:50
13	10.5	7:23	5:50
14	10.5	7:23	5:51
15	10.5	7:23	5:52
16	10.5	7:23	5:53
17	10.5	7:23	5:53
18	10.5	7:23	5:54
19	10.5	7:22	5:55
20	10.6	7:22	5:56
21	10.6	7:22	5:56
22	10.6	7:22	5:57
23	10.6	7:22	5:58
24	10.6	7:22	5:59
25	10.6	7:21	5:59
26	10.7	7:21	6:00
27	10.7	7:21	6:01
28	10.7	7:20	6:02
29	10.7	7:20	6:02
30	10.7	7:20	6:03
31	10.7	7:19	6:04

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 4.45 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.19 kWh/m² to a high of 8 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 4.45 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)	4.2	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	4.4	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.9
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	4.2	Bright
2	4.2	Bright
3	4.2	Bright
4	4.2	Bright
5	4.2	Bright
6	4.2	Bright
7	4.3	Bright
8	4.3	Bright
9	4.3	Bright
10	4.3	Bright
11	4.3	Bright
12	4.4	Bright
13	4.4	Bright
14	4.4	Bright
15	4.4	Bright
16	4.5	Bright
17	4.5	Bright
18	4.5	Bright
19	4.5	Bright
20	4.5	Bright
21	4.6	Bright
22	4.6	Bright
23	4.6	Bright
24	4.7	Bright
25	4.7	Bright
26	4.7	Bright
27	4.7	Bright
28	4.8	Bright
29	4.8	Bright
30	4.8	Bright
31	4.9	Bright

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Al Ula

In seasonPeak

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

Al Ula sees seasonal dust haze (April–June), heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Al Ula?

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

8.5

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

4.9

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

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

What to pack for Al Ula in January

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

In January, Al Ula sees daytime highs around 21°C and nights near 7°C. Worth packing: a warm layer.

a warm layer

UV index in Al Ula 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 Al Ula peaks around June 17 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 5 (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	7	10	8	12	12	12	12	11	8	6	5
Level	Moderate	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	5	Moderate
Feb	7	Very high
Mar	10	Extreme
Apr	8	Very high
May	12	Extreme
Jun	12	Extreme
Jul	12	Extreme
Aug	12	Extreme
Sep	11	Extreme
Oct	8	Very high
Nov	6	High
Dec	5	Moderate

Air quality in Al Ula 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 Al Ula is worst in April — around 39 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.0× the cleanest month (July, 19 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)	25	27	35	39	34	26	19	22	24	20	21	28
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	25	Moderate
Feb	27	Moderate
Mar	35	Moderate
Apr	39	Poor
May	34	Moderate
Jun	26	Moderate
Jul	19	Moderate
Aug	22	Moderate
Sep	24	Moderate
Oct	20	Moderate
Nov	21	Moderate
Dec	28	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Al Ula?

Al Ula sits at 26.6°N, 37.9°E, 692 m above sea level, in Saudi Arabia. The nearest listed city is Taymā’, 128 km away.

Topography around Al Ula

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Al Ula has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 410 m around an average of 780 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 733 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,738 m.

The land around Al Ula is covered by bare terrain (75%) within 3 km, bare terrain (94%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (99%) within 80 km.

3 km

410 m

bare terrain 75%

16 km

733 m

bare terrain 94%

80 km

1,738 m

bare terrain 99%

treesshrubscroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain

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

January weather nearby: Taymā’ 128 km · Al Wajh 151 km · Umluj 188 km · Duba 236 km · Tabuk 240 km · Yanbu 280 km · Sulţānah 288 km · Medina 292 km

Saudi Arabia travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 3; Reconsider Travel
Power plugs: Type G; 230 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 47% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $34,537; 2025
Happiness: 6.8 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate: 0.9; per 100k, 2019
Road deaths: 35.9; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
English: Very low; EF EPI 404

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 Al Ula (26.6085°, 37.9232°, elevation 692 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	21	8
2	21	8
3	21	8
4	21	8
5	21	8
6	20	7
7	20	7
8	20	7
9	20	7
10	20	7
11	20	7
12	20	7
13	20	7
14	20	7
15	20	7
16	20	7
17	20	7
18	20	7
19	20	7
20	20	7
21	21	7
22	21	7
23	21	7
24	21	7
25	21	7
26	21	7
27	21	7
28	21	8
29	21	8
30	21	8
31	21	8

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	86	14
11	86	14
12	87	13
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	86	14
24	86	14
25	87	13
26	86	14
27	86	14
28	86	14
29	86	14
30	86	14
31	86	14

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
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	99	1
31	99	1

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	86	14
11	86	14
12	87	13
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	86	14
24	86	14
25	87	13
26	86	14
27	86	14
28	86	14
29	86	14
30	86	14
31	86	14

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
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	99	1
31	99	1

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	84	16
9	84	16
10	86	14
11	86	14
12	87	13
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	86	14
24	86	14
25	87	13
26	86	14
27	86	14
28	86	14
29	86	14
30	86	14
31	86	14

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
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	99	1
31	99	1