ClimateExplore the planning map
Climate · Cairns

Cairns in January

Hot and wet, as the days hold steady.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

January in Cairns is hot: highs near 86°F, lows near 77°F. Rain falls on about five days a week, and daylight holds at about 13 hours 1 minute.January in Cairns is hot: highs near 30°C, lows near 25°C. Rain falls on about five days a week, and daylight holds at about 13 hours 1 minute.

High
86°F30°Caverage
Low
77°F25°Caverage
Wet days
5a week · 77% of days
Daylight
13h 01mon average

Is January a good time to visit Cairns?

January sits outside Cairns's best months, which run from June to September. Expect hot days and rain on about five days a week.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How January sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 86°F in January, against 76°F to 87°F through the year.Highs near 30°C in January, against 24°C to 31°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

77% of days in January, against 29% to 77% through the year.

Cloud cover

78% cover in January, against 50% to 78% through the year.

Daylight

13h 01m in January, against 11h 08m to 13h 07m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with January shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. December86°30°low 77°low 25°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.
  2. January86°30°low 77°low 25°5 wet days a weekRain on about five days a week.
  3. February87°31°low 77°low 25°5 wet days a weekRain on about five days a week.

Where Cairns sits, in January

Australia/Brisbane
this place
typical high in January 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-January
5:55 AMsets 6:57 PM
Above the sea
0 mlow-lying
Latitude
16.9°Ssouthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Finlayvale68 km north-west

The land around Cairns, shaded by its typical high in January, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in Australia in January

high · low · wet days
See January on the planning mapThe whole year in Cairns

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), read 14 km east of Cairns. Its own grid square is mostly sea and holds only a daily average, so the page reads the nearest square with a true high and low near the town's height. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.