Cartagena weather in January

In January, Cartagena sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 12°C, with 35 mm of rain across 4.6 wet days and about 9.7 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 3rd-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 14°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 54% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 24 min at the start of January to 10 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Cartagena's 9th-clearest and 6th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Cartagena's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 12°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 35 mm; 4.6 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 42 min; 8:23 AM – 6:03 PM
Cloud cover: 41%; 9th clearest
Wind: 18 km/h; 6th windiest
Solar energy: 2.74 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.0; out of 10

Cartagena is port city in southeast Spain.

Air quality: Good; PM10 22.2 µg/m³ · 2019
Founded: 1245

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

← December Cartagena 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 14°C through the month.

A typical January day in Cartagena reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 12°C overnight — a 2°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 13°C and 16°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C cooler 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)	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Avg low (°C)	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

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

Cartagena weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 11th-warmest and 3rd-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	14° / 12°	35	4.6	9.7	5.0
Feb	14° / 12°	23	3.9	10.6	5.0
Mar	15° / 13°	29	4.3	11.7	5.5
Apr	17° / 15°	22	3.2	12.9	6.4
May	19° / 17°	16	2	14	7.7
Jun	22° / 21°	5	0.8	14.5	8.9
Jul	25° / 23°	1	0.1	14.3	9.4
Aug	26° / 24°	6	1.3	13.4	8.9
Sep	24° / 22°	33	3.5	12.3	8.4
Oct	21° / 19°	36	4.3	11	7.7
Nov	18° / 16°	39	5.8	10	6.6
Dec	15° / 13°	30	4.7	9.5	5.5

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 54% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 31%.

	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 (%)	70	70	69	70	70	70	70	70	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	68	68	67	67	67	67	68	68	68	69	69	69
Cloudier (%)	30	30	31	30	30	30	30	30	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	32	32	33	33	33	33	32	32	32	31	31	31

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

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Cartagena gets around 35 mm of rain over 4.6 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 15% and peaks near 18% 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 (%)	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	13	13	14	14	15	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	18	18	17	17	17	17	16	16	15	15

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

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 97% 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 (%)	92	93	93	93	94	94	95	95	96	96	96	97	97	98	98	98	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99
Comfortable (%)	8	7	7	7	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	92	8
2	93	7
3	93	7
4	93	7
5	94	6
6	94	6
7	95	5
8	95	5
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	96	4
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	98	2
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 18 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 17 km/h on the calmest days to 19 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)	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19
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	18	light breeze
2	18	light breeze
3	18	light breeze
4	17	light breeze
5	17	light breeze
6	17	light breeze
7	17	light breeze
8	17	light breeze
9	17	light breeze
10	17	light breeze
11	17	light breeze
12	18	light breeze
13	18	light breeze
14	18	light breeze
15	18	light breeze
16	18	light breeze
17	18	light breeze
18	18	light breeze
19	19	light breeze
20	19	light breeze
21	19	light breeze
22	19	light breeze
23	19	light breeze
24	19	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 9 h 24 min at the start of January to 10 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 42 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 8:24 AM to 8:16 AM, and sunset from 5:50 PM to 6:19 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)	9.4	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.1
Sunrise (AM)	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:24	8:23	8:23	8:23	8:23	8:22	8:22	8:21	8:21	8:20	8:20	8:19	8:19	8:18	8:18	8:17	8:16	8:16
Sunset (PM)	5:50	5:51	5:52	5:53	5:53	5:54	5:55	5:56	5:57	5:58	5:59	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:02	6:03	6:04	6:05	6:06	6:07	6:08	6:09	6:10	6:11	6:13	6:14	6:15	6:16	6:17	6:18	6:19

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.4	8:24	5:50
2	9.5	8:24	5:51
3	9.5	8:24	5:52
4	9.5	8:24	5:53
5	9.5	8:24	5:53
6	9.5	8:24	5:54
7	9.5	8:24	5:55
8	9.5	8:24	5:56
9	9.5	8:24	5:57
10	9.6	8:24	5:58
11	9.6	8:24	5:59
12	9.6	8:24	6:00
13	9.6	8:24	6:00
14	9.6	8:24	6:01
15	9.6	8:23	6:02
16	9.7	8:23	6:03
17	9.7	8:23	6:04
18	9.7	8:23	6:05
19	9.7	8:22	6:06
20	9.8	8:22	6:07
21	9.8	8:21	6:08
22	9.8	8:21	6:09
23	9.8	8:20	6:10
24	9.9	8:20	6:11
25	9.9	8:19	6:13
26	9.9	8:19	6:14
27	9.9	8:18	6:15
28	10.0	8:18	6:16
29	10.0	8:17	6:17
30	10.0	8:16	6:18
31	10.1	8:16	6:19

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 2.74 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.37 kWh/m² to a high of 7.67 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 2.74 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)	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.1
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.5	Moderate
2	2.5	Moderate
3	2.5	Moderate
4	2.5	Moderate
5	2.5	Moderate
6	2.6	Moderate
7	2.6	Moderate
8	2.6	Moderate
9	2.6	Moderate
10	2.6	Moderate
11	2.6	Moderate
12	2.7	Moderate
13	2.7	Moderate
14	2.7	Moderate
15	2.7	Moderate
16	2.7	Moderate
17	2.8	Moderate
18	2.8	Moderate
19	2.8	Moderate
20	2.8	Moderate
21	2.8	Moderate
22	2.9	Moderate
23	2.9	Moderate
24	2.9	Moderate
25	2.9	Moderate
26	3.0	Moderate
27	3.0	Moderate
28	3.0	Moderate
29	3.1	Moderate
30	3.1	Moderate
31	3.1	Moderate

Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Cartagena?

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

5.0

Sightseeing

11th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

11th-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Cartagena for sightseeing.

What to pack for Cartagena in January

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

In January, Cartagena sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 12°C. Worth packing: a warm layer. About 5 days see rain.

a warm layer

Sea temperature near Cartagena 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 27 km away) is warmest in August at about 26°C and coldest in February near 15°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jun 4 to Nov 2 — about 5 months when the water holds above 20°C.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	15	15	15	16	18	21	24	26	24	22	19	16
Comfort	Cool	Bracing	Cool	Cool	Cool	Refreshing	Warm	Warm	Warm	Refreshing	Cool	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	15	Cool
Feb	15	Bracing
Mar	15	Cool
Apr	16	Cool
May	18	Cool
Jun	21	Refreshing
Jul	24	Warm
Aug	26	Warm
Sep	24	Warm
Oct	22	Refreshing
Nov	19	Cool
Dec	16	Cool

UV index in Cartagena in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 2. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Cartagena peaks around July 14 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	2	3	6	7	7	9	10	7	7	5	3	2
Level	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	2	Moderate
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	6	High
Apr	7	Very high
May	7	Very high
Jun	9	Very high
Jul	10	Very high
Aug	7	Very high
Sep	7	High
Oct	5	Moderate
Nov	3	Moderate
Dec	2	Low

Location & terrain

Where is Cartagena?

Cartagena sits at 37.6°N, 1.0°W, 1 m above sea level, in Spain. The nearest listed city is Barrio de Peral, 3.0 km away.

Topography around Cartagena

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cartagena has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 287 m around an average of 37 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 603 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,570 m.

The land around Cartagena is covered by artificial surfaces (33%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, water (37%) and cropland (23%) within 16 km, and water (42%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km

287 m

artificial surfaces 33%

16 km

603 m

water 37%

80 km

1,570 m

water 42%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

January weather nearby: Barrio de Peral 3.0 km · La Unión 10 km · Atamaría 16 km · Torre-Pacheco 16 km · Los Alcázares 20 km · San Javier 26 km · Mazarrón 29 km · San Pedro del Pinatar 31 km

Spain travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type C / F; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 65% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $38,627; 2025
Happiness: 6.5 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 99%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 0.7; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 3.9; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
English: Moderate; EF EPI 540
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 Cartagena (37.602°, -0.984°, elevation 1 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	15	13
2	15	13
3	15	13
4	15	13
5	15	12
6	15	12
7	15	12
8	14	12
9	14	12
10	14	12
11	14	12
12	14	12
13	14	12
14	14	12
15	14	12
16	14	12
17	14	12
18	14	12
19	14	12
20	14	12
21	14	12
22	14	12
23	14	12
24	14	12
25	14	12
26	14	12
27	14	12
28	14	12
29	14	12
30	14	12
31	14	12

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	92	8
2	93	7
3	93	7
4	93	7
5	94	6
6	94	6
7	95	5
8	95	5
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	96	4
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	98	2
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	15	13
2	15	13
3	15	13
4	15	13
5	15	12
6	15	12
7	15	12
8	14	12
9	14	12
10	14	12
11	14	12
12	14	12
13	14	12
14	14	12
15	14	12
16	14	12
17	14	12
18	14	12
19	14	12
20	14	12
21	14	12
22	14	12
23	14	12
24	14	12
25	14	12
26	14	12
27	14	12
28	14	12
29	14	12
30	14	12
31	14	12

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	92	8
2	93	7
3	93	7
4	93	7
5	94	6
6	94	6
7	95	5
8	95	5
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	96	4
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	98	2
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	15	13
2	15	13
3	15	13
4	15	13
5	15	12
6	15	12
7	15	12
8	14	12
9	14	12
10	14	12
11	14	12
12	14	12
13	14	12
14	14	12
15	14	12
16	14	12
17	14	12
18	14	12
19	14	12
20	14	12
21	14	12
22	14	12
23	14	12
24	14	12
25	14	12
26	14	12
27	14	12
28	14	12
29	14	12
30	14	12
31	14	12

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	92	8
2	93	7
3	93	7
4	93	7
5	94	6
6	94	6
7	95	5
8	95	5
9	96	4
10	96	4
11	96	4
12	97	3
13	97	3
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	98	2
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