Weather in Tangier in January

A good month. January works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 15.9 °C, lows 12.1 °C, and rain falls on 9 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

January ranks 10 of 12 — near the bottom of Tangier's year. July is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 30 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one. Worth keeping in perspective: January is the weakest month of Tangier's year and it is still a perfectly good one. The downside here is small.

Rain on 9 days, 2 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 15.9 °C days and 12.1 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 3.7 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest January day reached 20 °C and the coldest night fell to 4.2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 38 mm — roughly 51% of the month's rain in one day.

January is moderately variable: 1 mm in the driest year against 284 mm in the wettest, around an average of 74 mm. Roughly two Januarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 14 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 79%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How January sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 16.7 °C in December, 15.9 here, 15.9 in February. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in January

January sits at the dark end of Tangier's year — 10 hours of daylight against 14.6 at midsummer, gaining 0.6 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 16.9 °C in January — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. The sea peaks at 22.9 °C in August and bottoms out at 16.2 °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

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

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

January in Tangier versus nearby

If Tangier is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Chefchaouen is the weaker option in January — within a degree on temperature, 1 day more rain. Málaga is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: January is a compromise. July is 30 points better and is what Tangier 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 Tangier

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