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Climate · Ottawa

Ottawa in January

Cold and damp, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

January in Ottawa is cold: highs near 28°F, lows near 10°F. Rain or snow falls on about three days a week, less often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 35 minutes from the first week to the last.January in Ottawa is cold: highs near -2°C, lows near -12°C. Rain or snow falls on about three days a week, less often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 35 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
28°F-2°Caverage
Low
10°F-12°Caverage
Wet days
3a week · 40% of days
Daylight
9h 09mon average

Is January a good time to visit Ottawa?

January sits outside Ottawa's best months, which run in two parts: June, or August to September. Expect cold days and rain or snow on about three 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 28°F in January, against 28°F to 82°F through the year.Highs near -2°C in January, against -2°C to 28°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

40% of days in January, against 32% to 43% through the year.

Cloud cover

70% cover in January, against 42% to 70% through the year.

Daylight

9h 09m in January, against 8h 46m to 15h 36m 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. December35°2°low 20°low -7°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. January28°-2°low 10°low -12°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  3. February29°-2°low 9°low -13°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.

Where Ottawa sits, in January

America/Toronto
this place
typical high in January 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-January
7:39 AMsets 4:44 PM
Above the sea
70 mlow-lying
Latitude
45.4°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Mont-Tremblant115 km north-east

The land around Ottawa, 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 Canada in January

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

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Ottawa. 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.