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Climate · Nairobi

Nairobi in January

Warm and mostly dry, as the days hold steady.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

January in Nairobi is warm: highs near 81°F, lows near 58°F. Rain falls on about two days a week, less often as the month goes on, and daylight holds at about 12 hours 11 minutes.January in Nairobi is warm: highs near 27°C, lows near 14°C. Rain falls on about two days a week, less often as the month goes on, and daylight holds at about 12 hours 11 minutes.

High
81°F27°Caverage
Low
58°F14°Caverage
Wet days
2a week · 23% of days
Daylight
12h 11mon average

Is January a good time to visit Nairobi?

A good month, just outside Nairobi's best months, which run from June to September.

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 81°F in January, against 75°F to 83°F through the year.Highs near 27°C in January, against 24°C to 28°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

23% of days in January, against 12% to 74% through the year.

Cloud cover

68% cover in January, against 59% to 75% through the year.

Daylight

12h 11m in January, against 12h 03m to 12h 12m 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. December78°26°low 58°low 14°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. January81°27°low 58°low 14°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  3. February83°28°low 59°low 15°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.

Where Nairobi sits, in January

Africa/Nairobi
this place
typical high in January 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-January
6:36 AMsets 6:47 PM
Above the sea
1,670 mhigh country
Latitude
1.3°Ssouthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Masai Mara192 km west

The land around Nairobi, 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 Kenya in January

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

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