Weather in Melbourne in January

Prime time. If you get to pick your dates, January is the one. Highs average 26.2 °C, lows 15.1 °C, and rain falls on 7 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 July.

Rain on 7 days, 1 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: 8 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest January day reached 42.1 °C and the coldest night fell to 9.6 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 32 mm — roughly 71% of the month's rain in one day.

January is moderately variable: 4 mm in the driest year against 116 mm in the wettest, around an average of 45 mm. Roughly two Januarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 12.2 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 65%.

How January sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 23.9 °C in December, 26.2 here, 25.6 in February. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in January

January is at or near the longest days of Melbourne's year: 14.5 hours of daylight, losing 0.7 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 19.2 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

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 Melbourne versus nearby

If Melbourne is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Ballarat is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain. Bendigo is the weaker option in January — 4.7 °C warmer, 1 day less rain.

So: January is the answer for Melbourne. If it is booked out or priced out, February is the next best thing at 0 points behind, and July is the month to keep off the shortlist.

Every month in Melbourne

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