Weather in Mobile in January

A good month. January is a solid month to be in Mobile. Highs average 15.1 °C, lows 7.9 °C, and rain falls on 10 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

January ranks 8 of 12 in Mobile: past the worst of the year but short of November, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 10 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 15.1 °C days and 7.9 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest January day reached 23 °C and the coldest night fell to -4.8 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 63 mm — roughly 62% of the month's rain in one day.

January is moderately variable: 7 mm in the driest year against 203 mm in the wettest, around an average of 102 mm. Roughly two Januarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 11.2 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 82%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How January sits in the year

This is a turning point in the year — December and February sit on opposite sides of it, so the month contains the change rather than following it.

Daylight in January

January sits at the dark end of Mobile's year — 10.4 hours of daylight against 14.1 at midsummer, gaining 0.5 hours across the month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 19.4 °C in January — swimmable, but it takes a moment to commit. The sea peaks at 29.8 °C in August and bottoms out at 19 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Shoulder. The value months — prices ease off and you get the place closer to itself.

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

January in Mobile versus nearby

If Mobile is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. New Orleans is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Montgomery is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days.

So: January is a compromise. November is 19 points better and is what Mobile is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Mobile

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