Weather in Coffs Harbour in January

A good month. January works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. You should expect rain on 15 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

January ranks 9 of 12 in Coffs Harbour: past the worst of the year but short of August, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 15 days, 4 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 4 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break; the day barely swings — 4.9 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest January day reached 35.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 18.1 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 137 mm — roughly 86% of the month's rain in one day.

January is moderately variable: 21 mm in the driest year against 343 mm in the wettest, around an average of 159 mm. Roughly two Januarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 12.3 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 76%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How January sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 26.3 °C in December, 27.1 here, 26.5 in February. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in January

January is at or near the longest days of Coffs Harbour's year: 13.9 hours of daylight, losing 0.5 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 25.1 °C in January — warm enough to stay in as long as you like. This is the warmest the water gets all year.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

January in Coffs Harbour versus nearby

If Coffs Harbour is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Armidale is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain. Byron Bay is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: January works, with August the better month by 17 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Coffs Harbour

See all twelve months in Coffs Harbour, or where else to go in January.