Niagara Falls weather in January

In January, Niagara Falls sees average daytime highs of 31°F and overnight lows near 21°F, with 2.9 in of precipitation across 12.5 wet days and about 9.2 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 33°F in the first days to 30°F by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 5% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 8 h 54 min at the start of January to 9 h 36 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Niagara Falls's 12th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Niagara Falls's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 31°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 21°; 2nd coldest
Precipitation: 2.9 in; 12.5 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 06 min; 7:51 AM – 5:00 PM
Cloud cover: 83%; 12th clearest
Wind: 11 mph; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 1.63 kWh/m²
Travel score: 0.0; out of 10

Niagara Falls is city in New York, United States.

Density: 1,122/km²; people per km²

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

← December Niagara Falls 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

Highs ease over the month, from about 33°F in the first days to 30°F by the end.

A typical January day in Niagara Falls reaches about 31°F in the afternoon and slips back to 21°F overnight — a 10°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 18°F and 44°F. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 6°F 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 (°F)	34	33	33	33	33	33	33	32	32	32	32	32	31	31	31	31	31	31	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30
Avg low (°F)	25	24	24	24	24	23	23	23	22	22	22	22	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	34	25
2	33	24
3	33	24
4	33	24
5	33	24
6	33	23
7	33	23
8	32	23
9	32	22
10	32	22
11	32	22
12	32	22
13	31	21
14	31	21
15	31	21
16	31	20
17	31	20
18	31	20
19	30	20
20	30	20
21	30	20
22	30	20
23	30	19
24	30	19
25	30	19
26	30	19
27	30	19
28	30	19
29	30	19
30	30	19
31	30	19

How January really feels in Niagara Falls

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 0 days that feel above 90°F and 31 that feel at or below 32°F — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 90°F

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 32°F

31 feel bitter (≤ 14°F)

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

Niagara Falls weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	31° / 21°	2.9	12.5	10	9.2	0.0
Feb	32° / 21°	2.3	10.2	7.9	10.2	0.0
Mar	40° / 28°	2.9	11.4	5.6	11.6	0.2
Apr	51° / 39°	3.7	12.2	1.9	13.1	2.5
May	64° / 50°	3.4	12.4	0	14.4	5.2
Jun	73° / 61°	3.9	12.3	0	15.1	6.5
Jul	78° / 66°	4.0	12.6	0	14.9	6.5
Aug	76° / 65°	3.4	11	0	13.8	6.8
Sep	70° / 58°	3.4	10.4	0	12.3	6.5
Oct	58° / 47°	3.7	12.6	0.1	10.8	4.0
Nov	46° / 37°	3.1	11.8	3.1	9.5	1.3
Dec	37° / 28°	3.1	12.8	7.4	8.9	0.0

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 5% of the time in January, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 8% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 87%.

	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 (%)	9	9	10	10	9	9	9	10	10	10	11	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	16	16	17	18	18	18
Cloudier (%)	91	91	90	90	91	91	91	90	90	90	89	88	88	87	87	87	87	87	86	86	86	86	85	85	85	84	84	83	82	82	82

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	9	91
2	9	91
3	10	90
4	10	90
5	9	91
6	9	91
7	9	91
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	10	90
11	11	89
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	13	87
15	13	87
16	13	87
17	13	87
18	13	87
19	14	86
20	14	86
21	14	86
22	14	86
23	15	85
24	15	85
25	15	85
26	16	84
27	16	84
28	17	83
29	18	82
30	18	82
31	18	82

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitationSnow

Niagara Falls gets around 2.9 in of rain and snow over 12.5 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 40% and peaks near 44% on the wettest days, and about 10 days bring snow. The odds ease toward the end of the month.

	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 (%)	43	43	43	44	44	44	44	44	44	43	43	42	41	41	40	40	39	39	38	38	37	37	37	37	36	36	36	36	36	35	35
Snow chance (%)	28	29	29	29	30	30	31	32	32	32	33	33	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	33	33	33	33	33	32	32	32	32	32	32	31

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	43	28
2	43	29
3	43	29
4	44	29
5	44	30
6	44	30
7	44	31
8	44	32
9	44	32
10	43	32
11	43	33
12	42	33
13	41	32
14	41	32
15	40	32
16	40	32
17	39	32
18	39	32
19	38	32
20	38	33
21	37	33
22	37	33
23	37	33
24	37	33
25	36	32
26	36	32
27	36	32
28	36	32
29	36	32
30	35	32
31	35	31

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.

	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 (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in January

Winds average 11 mph in January, the windiest month of the year.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 11 mph on the calmest days to 11 mph 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 (mph)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
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 (mph)	Feels
1	11	light breeze
2	11	light breeze
3	11	light breeze
4	11	light breeze
5	11	light breeze
6	11	light breeze
7	11	light breeze
8	11	light breeze
9	11	light breeze
10	11	light breeze
11	11	light breeze
12	11	light breeze
13	11	light breeze
14	11	light breeze
15	11	light breeze
16	11	light breeze
17	11	light breeze
18	11	light breeze
19	11	light breeze
20	11	light breeze
21	11	light breeze
22	11	light breeze
23	11	light breeze
24	11	light breeze
25	11	light breeze
26	11	light breeze
27	11	light breeze
28	11	light breeze
29	11	light breeze
30	11	light breeze
31	11	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 8 h 54 min at the start of January to 9 h 36 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 7:53 AM to 7:41 AM, and sunset from 4:45 PM to 5:18 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)	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.9	9.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	9.1	9.1	9.1	9.1	9.1	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.4	9.4	9.4	9.5	9.5	9.6	9.6	9.6
Sunrise (AM)	7:53	7:54	7:54	7:54	7:54	7:54	7:53	7:53	7:53	7:53	7:53	7:53	7:52	7:52	7:52	7:51	7:51	7:50	7:50	7:49	7:49	7:48	7:47	7:47	7:46	7:45	7:44	7:43	7:43	7:42	7:41
Sunset (PM)	4:45	4:46	4:47	4:48	4:49	4:50	4:51	4:51	4:52	4:53	4:55	4:56	4:57	4:58	4:59	5:00	5:01	5:02	5:03	5:05	5:06	5:07	5:08	5:09	5:11	5:12	5:13	5:14	5:16	5:17	5:18

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	8.9	7:53	4:45
2	8.9	7:54	4:46
3	8.9	7:54	4:47
4	8.9	7:54	4:48
5	8.9	7:54	4:49
6	8.9	7:54	4:50
7	9.0	7:53	4:51
8	9.0	7:53	4:51
9	9.0	7:53	4:52
10	9.0	7:53	4:53
11	9.0	7:53	4:55
12	9.1	7:53	4:56
13	9.1	7:52	4:57
14	9.1	7:52	4:58
15	9.1	7:52	4:59
16	9.1	7:51	5:00
17	9.2	7:51	5:01
18	9.2	7:50	5:02
19	9.2	7:50	5:03
20	9.3	7:49	5:05
21	9.3	7:49	5:06
22	9.3	7:48	5:07
23	9.3	7:47	5:08
24	9.4	7:47	5:09
25	9.4	7:46	5:11
26	9.4	7:45	5:12
27	9.5	7:44	5:13
28	9.5	7:43	5:14
29	9.6	7:43	5:16
30	9.6	7:42	5:17
31	9.6	7:41	5:18

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 1.63 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.28 kWh/m² to a high of 6.33 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 1.63 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)	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.1
Level	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	1.3	Dim
2	1.3	Dim
3	1.3	Dim
4	1.4	Dim
5	1.4	Dim
6	1.4	Dim
7	1.4	Dim
8	1.4	Dim
9	1.4	Dim
10	1.5	Dim
11	1.5	Dim
12	1.5	Dim
13	1.5	Dim
14	1.6	Dim
15	1.6	Dim
16	1.6	Dim
17	1.6	Dim
18	1.7	Dim
19	1.7	Dim
20	1.7	Dim
21	1.8	Dim
22	1.8	Dim
23	1.8	Dim
24	1.9	Dim
25	1.9	Dim
26	1.9	Dim
27	1.9	Dim
28	2.0	Dim
29	2.0	Moderate
30	2.0	Moderate
31	2.1	Moderate

Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Niagara Falls?

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 Niagara Falls.

What to pack for Niagara Falls in January

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

In January, Niagara Falls sees daytime highs around 31°F and nights near 21°F. Pack a warm layer and a heavy coat. Worth having: rain gear. About 13 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain gear

Sea temperature near Niagara Falls in January

The nearest coast averages about 37°F 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 16 mi away) is warmest in August at about 74°F and coldest in February near 34°F.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 4 to Sep 20 — about 2.6 months when the water holds above 68°F.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°F)	37	34	34	38	48	62	72	74	69	60	50	43
Comfort	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Refreshing	Refreshing	Refreshing	Cool	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°F)	Comfort
Jan	37	Bracing
Feb	34	Bracing
Mar	34	Bracing
Apr	38	Bracing
May	48	Bracing
Jun	62	Cool
Jul	72	Refreshing
Aug	74	Refreshing
Sep	69	Refreshing
Oct	60	Cool
Nov	50	Bracing
Dec	43	Bracing

UV index in Niagara Falls 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 Niagara Falls peaks around June 19 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	1	2	4	5	6	8	7	6	5	3	2	1
Level	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	High	Very high	Very high	High	High	Moderate	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	1	Low
Feb	2	Moderate
Mar	4	Moderate
Apr	5	High
May	6	High
Jun	8	Very high
Jul	7	Very high
Aug	6	High
Sep	5	High
Oct	3	Moderate
Nov	2	Low
Dec	1	Low

Location & terrain

Where is Niagara Falls?

Niagara Falls sits at 43.1°N, 79.1°W, 614 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Niagara Falls, 0.6 mi away.

Topography around Niagara Falls

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Niagara Falls.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Niagara Falls has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 427 ft around an average of 571 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 476 ft; within 50 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,909 ft.

The land around Niagara Falls is covered by artificial surfaces (45%) within 2 miles, trees (35%) and grassland (27%) within 10 miles, and water (41%) and trees (28%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

427 ft

artificial surfaces 45%

10 miles

476 ft

trees 35%

50 miles

1,909 ft

water 41%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

January weather nearby: Niagara Falls 0.6 mi · Grand Island 6.2 mi · Thorold 7.5 mi · North Tonawanda 11 mi · St. Catharines 11 mi · Niagara-on-the-Lake 11 mi · Welland 12 mi · Kenmore 13 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs: Type A / B; 120 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 100% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $90,027; 2025
Happiness: 6.8 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 98%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 5.8; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 12.7; 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 Niagara Falls (43.0945°, -79.0567°, elevation 614 ft), 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 (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	34	25
2	33	24
3	33	24
4	33	24
5	33	24
6	33	23
7	33	23
8	32	23
9	32	22
10	32	22
11	32	22
12	32	22
13	31	21
14	31	21
15	31	21
16	31	20
17	31	20
18	31	20
19	30	20
20	30	20
21	30	20
22	30	20
23	30	19
24	30	19
25	30	19
26	30	19
27	30	19
28	30	19
29	30	19
30	30	19
31	30	19

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	9	91
2	9	91
3	10	90
4	10	90
5	9	91
6	9	91
7	9	91
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	10	90
11	11	89
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	13	87
15	13	87
16	13	87
17	13	87
18	13	87
19	14	86
20	14	86
21	14	86
22	14	86
23	15	85
24	15	85
25	15	85
26	16	84
27	16	84
28	17	83
29	18	82
30	18	82
31	18	82

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	43	28
2	43	29
3	43	29
4	44	29
5	44	30
6	44	30
7	44	31
8	44	32
9	44	32
10	43	32
11	43	33
12	42	33
13	41	32
14	41	32
15	40	32
16	40	32
17	39	32
18	39	32
19	38	32
20	38	33
21	37	33
22	37	33
23	37	33
24	37	33
25	36	32
26	36	32
27	36	32
28	36	32
29	36	32
30	35	32
31	35	31

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	34	25
2	33	24
3	33	24
4	33	24
5	33	24
6	33	23
7	33	23
8	32	23
9	32	22
10	32	22
11	32	22
12	32	22
13	31	21
14	31	21
15	31	21
16	31	20
17	31	20
18	31	20
19	30	20
20	30	20
21	30	20
22	30	20
23	30	19
24	30	19
25	30	19
26	30	19
27	30	19
28	30	19
29	30	19
30	30	19
31	30	19

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	9	91
2	9	91
3	10	90
4	10	90
5	9	91
6	9	91
7	9	91
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	10	90
11	11	89
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	13	87
15	13	87
16	13	87
17	13	87
18	13	87
19	14	86
20	14	86
21	14	86
22	14	86
23	15	85
24	15	85
25	15	85
26	16	84
27	16	84
28	17	83
29	18	82
30	18	82
31	18	82

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	43	28
2	43	29
3	43	29
4	44	29
5	44	30
6	44	30
7	44	31
8	44	32
9	44	32
10	43	32
11	43	33
12	42	33
13	41	32
14	41	32
15	40	32
16	40	32
17	39	32
18	39	32
19	38	32
20	38	33
21	37	33
22	37	33
23	37	33
24	37	33
25	36	32
26	36	32
27	36	32
28	36	32
29	36	32
30	35	32
31	35	31

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	34	25
2	33	24
3	33	24
4	33	24
5	33	24
6	33	23
7	33	23
8	32	23
9	32	22
10	32	22
11	32	22
12	32	22
13	31	21
14	31	21
15	31	21
16	31	20
17	31	20
18	31	20
19	30	20
20	30	20
21	30	20
22	30	20
23	30	19
24	30	19
25	30	19
26	30	19
27	30	19
28	30	19
29	30	19
30	30	19
31	30	19

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	9	91
2	9	91
3	10	90
4	10	90
5	9	91
6	9	91
7	9	91
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	10	90
11	11	89
12	12	88
13	12	88
14	13	87
15	13	87
16	13	87
17	13	87
18	13	87
19	14	86
20	14	86
21	14	86
22	14	86
23	15	85
24	15	85
25	15	85
26	16	84
27	16	84
28	17	83
29	18	82
30	18	82
31	18	82

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	43	28
2	43	29
3	43	29
4	44	29
5	44	30
6	44	30
7	44	31
8	44	32
9	44	32
10	43	32
11	43	33
12	42	33
13	41	32
14	41	32
15	40	32
16	40	32
17	39	32
18	39	32
19	38	32
20	38	33
21	37	33
22	37	33
23	37	33
24	37	33
25	36	32
26	36	32
27	36	32
28	36	32
29	36	32
30	35	32
31	35	31

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100