Weather in Te Anau in January

Shoulder season. January sits in between. You will get good days and you will lose some. You should expect rain on 19 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

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.

This is wet-season rain: 19 wet days and 7 genuinely heavy ones, which in this climate means concentrated downpours rather than all-day grey. The pattern is usually a clear morning and a loud afternoon, so front-load the day and stop fighting the 3pm hour. Pack for 17.9 °C days and 9.7 °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 26.1 °C and the coldest night fell to 4.1 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 74 mm — roughly 37% of the month's rain in one day.

January is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest January on record still delivered 367 mm against 96 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 198 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 11.7 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 85%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How January sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 16.9 °C in December, 17.9 here, 17.9 in February. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in January

January is at or near the longest days of Te Anau's year: 15.3 hours of daylight, losing 0.9 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: 14.5 °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. If the dates are flexible, November is the trade worth considering — 11 points weaker on weather, and materially quieter.

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

January in Te Anau versus nearby

If Te Anau is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Queenstown is a better bet in January — 2.3 °C warmer, 2 days less rain. Invercargill is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days less rain.

So: January is the answer for Te Anau. 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 Te Anau

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