Climate averages 1991–2020
Murmansk weather
in January.
A freezing month with light precipitation: the coolest and the 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a freezing month in Murmansk: daytime highs average -8.3°C and nights cool to about -13.5°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 24 mm of precipitation on roughly 8 days, which makes January a month with light precipitation (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 2 h 07 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Oulu (550 km away). In January its highs average -5.5°C, 2.9°C warmer than Murmansk, with 35 mm of precipitation.
Among the 236 cities listed in Russia, Murmansk ranks 139th of 236 for the warmest January highs and joint 58th of 236 for the driest January (precipitation, lowest first). The mean January high of those 236 cities is -7.3°C; Murmansk is 1.0°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 0.4°C to -8.0°C, and monthly precipitation falls from 24 mm to 20 mm.
The annual picture
January in context
Monthly precipitation
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Murmansk climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | -8.3°C-13.5°C | -13.5°C | 24 | 7.8 | 2.12 h |
| February | -8.0°C-13.0°C | -13.0°C | 20 | 6.6 | 7.47 h |
| March | -3.2°C-8.8°C | -8.8°C | 27 | 8.1 | 11.612 h |
| April | 2.1°C-4.5°C | -4.5°C | 33 | 9.3 | 15.916 h |
| May | 7.5°C0.5°C | 0.5°C | 50 | 12.4 | 21.421 h |
| June | 12.7°C5.7°C | 5.7°C | 65 | 12.5 | 24.024 h, midnight sun: no sunset |
| July | 16.5°C9.6°C | 9.6°C | 69 | 12.7 | 23.423 h |
| August | 14.2°C8.5°C | 8.5°C | 62 | 12.1 | 17.918 h |
| September | 9.5°C4.8°C | 4.8°C | 55 | 12.2 | 13.413 h |
| October | 2.4°C-1.0°C | -1.0°C | 54 | 12.1 | 9.29 h |
| November | -3.1°C-7.2°C | -7.2°C | 29 | 8.2 | 4.54 h |
| December | -5.7°C-10.5°C | -10.5°C | 27 | 8.7 | 0.00 h |
Precipitation (rain or snow, as water) is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A wet day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
January in nearby cities
- Oulu in JanuaryFinland · 550 kmHigh -5.5°C · Low -10.2°C · 35 mm precipitation
- Severodvinsk in JanuaryRussia · 572 kmHigh -7.7°C · Low -12.0°C · 28 mm precipitation
- Arkhangel’sk in JanuaryRussia · 590 kmHigh -8.5°C · Low -13.2°C · 31 mm precipitation
- Luleå in JanuarySweden · 601 kmHigh -4.9°C · Low -9.6°C · 41 mm precipitation
- Kuopio in JanuaryFinland · 718 kmHigh -5.4°C · Low -9.4°C · 40 mm precipitation
- Joensuu in JanuaryFinland · 724 kmHigh -6.0°C · Low -9.9°C · 41 mm precipitation
- Saint Petersburg in JanuaryRussia · 1013 kmHigh -3.8°C · Low -7.7°C · 41 mm precipitation
- Moscow in JanuaryRussia · 1487 kmHigh -5.2°C · Low -10.2°C · 35 mm precipitation
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Murmansk) is explained once on the Murmansk year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.