Ridgecrest weather in January

In January, Ridgecrest sees average daytime highs of 56°F and overnight lows near 38°F, with 1.2 in of precipitation across 4.2 wet days and about 9.9 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 2nd-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 54°F in the first days to 58°F by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 52% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 36 min at the start of January to 10 h 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Ridgecrest's 12th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Ridgecrest's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 56°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 38°; 2nd coldest
Precipitation: 1.2 in; 4.2 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 48 min; 7:05 AM – 4:55 PM
Cloud cover: 43%; 12th clearest
Wind: 5 mph; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 3.23 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.5; out of 10

Ridgecrest is city in Kern County, California, United States.

Density: 519/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1963

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

← December Ridgecrest 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 climb over the month, from about 54°F in the first days to 58°F by the end.

A typical January day in Ridgecrest reaches about 56°F in the afternoon and slips back to 38°F overnight — a 17°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 47°F and 65°F. Set against its neighbours, January runs on par with December and about 3°F 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 (°F)	54	54	54	54	54	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	58	58	58
Avg low (°F)	37	37	37	37	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	38	39	39	39	39	39	39	39	39	39	39	39

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	54	37
2	54	37
3	54	37
4	54	37
5	54	38
6	55	38
7	55	38
8	55	38
9	55	38
10	55	38
11	55	38
12	55	38
13	55	38
14	56	38
15	56	38
16	56	38
17	56	38
18	56	38
19	56	38
20	56	38
21	56	39
22	57	39
23	57	39
24	57	39
25	57	39
26	57	39
27	57	39
28	57	39
29	58	39
30	58	39
31	58	39

How January really feels in Ridgecrest

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 0 days that feel above 90°F and 0 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

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.

Ridgecrest weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 11th-warmest and 2nd-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	56° / 38°	1.2	4.2	0.8	9.9	4.5
Feb	59° / 40°	1.3	4.3	0.6	10.7	5.5
Mar	66° / 44°	0.7	3.1	0.4	11.7	7.3
Apr	72° / 48°	0.3	1.4	0	12.9	8.6
May	81° / 55°	0.1	0.6	0	13.9	8.3
Jun	91° / 63°	0.0	0.3	0	14.4	5.1
Jul	96° / 69°	0.1	0.8	0	14.2	2.8
Aug	96° / 68°	0.1	0.5	0	13.3	3.2
Sep	88° / 63°	0.1	0.5	0	12.2	6.0
Oct	76° / 53°	0.3	1.2	0	11.1	8.9
Nov	64° / 44°	0.4	1.8	0.2	10.1	7.1
Dec	55° / 38°	0.9	3.1	0.5	9.6	4.3

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 52% of the time in January, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 13% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 35%.

	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 (%)	64	64	63	63	64	63	63	63	64	64	65	65	64	64	65	65	65	65	65	65	65	65	64	65	65	65	66	66	66	67	67
Cloudier (%)	36	36	37	37	36	37	37	37	36	36	35	35	36	36	35	35	35	35	35	35	35	35	36	35	35	35	34	34	34	33	33

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	64	36
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	64	36
10	64	36
11	65	35
12	65	35
13	64	36
14	64	36
15	65	35
16	65	35
17	65	35
18	65	35
19	65	35
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	65	35
23	64	36
24	65	35
25	65	35
26	65	35
27	66	34
28	66	34
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitationSnow

Ridgecrest gets around 1.2 in of rain and snow over 4.2 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 13% and peaks near 15% on the wettest days, and about 1 day brings snow.

	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 (%)	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Snow chance (%)	3	3	3	3	3	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

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

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

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 36 min at the start of January to 10 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 36 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 7:05 AM to 6:58 AM, and sunset from 4:43 PM to 5:10 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)	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.2
Sunrise (AM)	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:06	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:05	7:04	7:04	7:04	7:03	7:03	7:03	7:02	7:02	7:01	7:01	7:00	6:59	6:59	6:58
Sunset (PM)	4:43	4:43	4:44	4:45	4:46	4:46	4:47	4:48	4:49	4:50	4:51	4:51	4:52	4:53	4:54	4:55	4:56	4:57	4:58	4:59	5:00	5:01	5:02	5:03	5:04	5:05	5:06	5:07	5:08	5:09	5:10

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.6	7:05	4:43
2	9.6	7:05	4:43
3	9.6	7:05	4:44
4	9.7	7:05	4:45
5	9.7	7:06	4:46
6	9.7	7:06	4:46
7	9.7	7:06	4:47
8	9.7	7:06	4:48
9	9.7	7:06	4:49
10	9.7	7:06	4:50
11	9.7	7:06	4:51
12	9.8	7:06	4:51
13	9.8	7:05	4:52
14	9.8	7:05	4:53
15	9.8	7:05	4:54
16	9.8	7:05	4:55
17	9.9	7:05	4:56
18	9.9	7:04	4:57
19	9.9	7:04	4:58
20	9.9	7:04	4:59
21	9.9	7:03	5:00
22	10.0	7:03	5:01
23	10.0	7:03	5:02
24	10.0	7:02	5:03
25	10.0	7:02	5:04
26	10.1	7:01	5:05
27	10.1	7:01	5:06
28	10.1	7:00	5:07
29	10.1	6:59	5:08
30	10.2	6:59	5:09
31	10.2	6:58	5:10

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 3.23 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.03 kWh/m² to a high of 8.66 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 3.23 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)	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.7
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	3.1	Moderate
2	3.1	Moderate
3	3.1	Moderate
4	3.1	Moderate
5	3.1	Moderate
6	3.1	Moderate
7	3.1	Moderate
8	3.1	Moderate
9	3.1	Moderate
10	3.1	Moderate
11	3.1	Moderate
12	3.2	Moderate
13	3.2	Moderate
14	3.2	Moderate
15	3.2	Moderate
16	3.3	Moderate
17	3.3	Moderate
18	3.3	Moderate
19	3.3	Moderate
20	3.4	Moderate
21	3.4	Moderate
22	3.4	Moderate
23	3.4	Moderate
24	3.5	Moderate
25	3.5	Moderate
26	3.5	Moderate
27	3.6	Moderate
28	3.6	Moderate
29	3.6	Moderate
30	3.7	Moderate
31	3.7	Moderate

Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Ridgecrest?

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

4.5

Sightseeing

9th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

12th-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Ridgecrest for sightseeing.

What to pack for Ridgecrest in January

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

In January, Ridgecrest sees daytime highs around 56°F and nights near 38°F. Worth packing: a warm layer. About 4 days see rain.

a warm layer

UV index in Ridgecrest in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 3 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Ridgecrest peaks around June 21 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	4	5	7	8	11	11	11	8	6	3	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	4	Moderate
Mar	5	High
Apr	7	Very high
May	8	Very high
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	11	Extreme
Sep	8	Very high
Oct	6	High
Nov	3	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Ridgecrest 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 Ridgecrest is worst in August — around 20 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.8× the cleanest month (December, 5 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)	6	7	9	9	8	10	14	20	19	9	6	5
Level	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	6	Good
Feb	7	Good
Mar	9	Good
Apr	9	Good
May	8	Good
Jun	10	Good
Jul	14	Moderate
Aug	20	Moderate
Sep	19	Moderate
Oct	9	Good
Nov	6	Good
Dec	5	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Ridgecrest?

Ridgecrest sits at 35.6°N, 117.7°W, 2,290 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Rosamond, 59 mi away.

Topography around Ridgecrest

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Ridgecrest has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 157 ft around an average of 2,303 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,516 ft; within 50 miles, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 10,167 ft.

The land around Ridgecrest is covered by bare terrain (49%) and artificial surfaces (45%) within 2 miles, bare terrain (80%) within 10 miles, and bare terrain (51%) and grassland (26%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

157 ft

bare terrain 49%

10 miles

2,516 ft

bare terrain 80%

50 miles

10,167 ft

bare terrain 51%

treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrain

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

January weather nearby: Rosamond 59 mi · Barstow 62 mi · Barstow Heights 63 mi · Lancaster 69 mi · Arvin 71 mi · Adelanto 73 mi · Lamont 75 mi · Palmdale 76 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 Ridgecrest (35.6225°, -117.6709°, elevation 2,290 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. 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 (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	54	37
2	54	37
3	54	37
4	54	37
5	54	38
6	55	38
7	55	38
8	55	38
9	55	38
10	55	38
11	55	38
12	55	38
13	55	38
14	56	38
15	56	38
16	56	38
17	56	38
18	56	38
19	56	38
20	56	38
21	56	39
22	57	39
23	57	39
24	57	39
25	57	39
26	57	39
27	57	39
28	57	39
29	58	39
30	58	39
31	58	39

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	64	36
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	64	36
10	64	36
11	65	35
12	65	35
13	64	36
14	64	36
15	65	35
16	65	35
17	65	35
18	65	35
19	65	35
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	65	35
23	64	36
24	65	35
25	65	35
26	65	35
27	66	34
28	66	34
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

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

	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	54	37
2	54	37
3	54	37
4	54	37
5	54	38
6	55	38
7	55	38
8	55	38
9	55	38
10	55	38
11	55	38
12	55	38
13	55	38
14	56	38
15	56	38
16	56	38
17	56	38
18	56	38
19	56	38
20	56	38
21	56	39
22	57	39
23	57	39
24	57	39
25	57	39
26	57	39
27	57	39
28	57	39
29	58	39
30	58	39
31	58	39

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	64	36
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	64	36
10	64	36
11	65	35
12	65	35
13	64	36
14	64	36
15	65	35
16	65	35
17	65	35
18	65	35
19	65	35
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	65	35
23	64	36
24	65	35
25	65	35
26	65	35
27	66	34
28	66	34
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

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

	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	54	37
2	54	37
3	54	37
4	54	37
5	54	38
6	55	38
7	55	38
8	55	38
9	55	38
10	55	38
11	55	38
12	55	38
13	55	38
14	56	38
15	56	38
16	56	38
17	56	38
18	56	38
19	56	38
20	56	38
21	56	39
22	57	39
23	57	39
24	57	39
25	57	39
26	57	39
27	57	39
28	57	39
29	58	39
30	58	39
31	58	39

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	64	36
2	64	36
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	64	36
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	64	36
10	64	36
11	65	35
12	65	35
13	64	36
14	64	36
15	65	35
16	65	35
17	65	35
18	65	35
19	65	35
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	65	35
23	64	36
24	65	35
25	65	35
26	65	35
27	66	34
28	66	34
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

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

	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