Weather in Launceston in January

Prime time. January is about as good as Launceston gets. Highs average 25.9 °C, lows 12.1 °C, and rain falls on 6 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

January is the highest-scoring month of the twelve. The nearest rival is February, and the month at the other end of the year is August.

Rain falls on only 6 days, so an itinerary with no wet-weather fallback is a reasonable risk. 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. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest January day reached 40.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 5.2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 59 mm — roughly 111% of the month's rain in one day.

January is moderately variable: 7 mm in the driest year against 150 mm in the wettest, around an average of 53 mm. Roughly two Januarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 10 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 64%.

How January sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 22.6 °C in December, 25.9 here, 25.4 in February. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in January

January is at or near the longest days of Launceston's year: 14.9 hours of daylight, losing 0.8 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 17.4 °C in January — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. This is the warmest the water gets all year.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead.

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

January in Launceston versus nearby

If Launceston is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Devonport is close enough to be a coin toss — 6.4 °C cooler, the same number of rain days. Burnie is close enough to be a coin toss — 5.7 °C cooler, 2 days more rain.

So: January is the answer for Launceston. If it is booked out or priced out, February is the next best thing at 1 points behind, and August is the month to keep off the shortlist.

Every month in Launceston

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