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Climate · Shanghai

Shanghai in January

Cool and mostly dry, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

January in Shanghai is cool: highs near 50°F, lows near 35°F. Rain falls on about two days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 20 minutes from the first week to the last.January in Shanghai is cool: highs near 10°C, lows near 2°C. Rain falls on about two days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 20 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
50°F10°Caverage
Low
35°F2°Caverage
Wet days
2a week · 28% of days
Daylight
10h 22mon average

Is January a good time to visit Shanghai?

January sits outside Shanghai's best months, which run in two parts: May, or October. Expect cool days and rain on about two 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 50°F in January, against 50°F to 91°F through the year.Highs near 10°C in January, against 10°C to 33°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

28% of days in January, against 20% to 52% through the year.

Cloud cover

40% cover in January, against 35% to 68% through the year.

Daylight

10h 22m in January, against 10h 09m to 14h 09m 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. December55°13°low 39°low 4°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  2. January50°10°low 35°low 2°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  3. February52°11°low 36°low 2°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.

Where Shanghai sits, in January

Asia/Shanghai
this place
typical high in January 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-January
6:53 AMsets 5:12 PM
Above the sea
20 mlow-lying
Latitude
31.2°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Hangzhou163 km south-west

The land around Shanghai, 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 China in January

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

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