Climate averages 1991–2020

Galle weather
in January.

A hot, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the 2nd driest of the year.

Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.

Average high 28.3°C Daytime mean, January

Average low 23.6°C Night-time mean, January

Rainfall 64 mm 12 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 12 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

January is a hot month in Galle: daytime highs average 28.3°C and nights cool to about 23.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.

Expect about 64 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes January a moderately wet month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 49 min on an average January day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Matara (38 km away). In January its highs average 29.1°C, 0.8°C warmer than Galle, with 97 mm of rain.

Among the 12 cities listed in Sri Lanka, Galle ranks 6th of 12 for the warmest January highs and 6th of 12 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 12 cities is 28.2°C; Galle is 0.1°C warmer than that mean.

From January to February, average highs rise by 0.7°C to 29.0°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 64 mm to 51 mm.

The annual picture

January in context

30-year average

Average highAverage low°C

Monthly rainfall

Average total · mm

Averages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated

Every month, side by side

Galle climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Galle, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Rainfall mm/month	Rain days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January, selected	28.3°C23.6°C	23.6°C	64	12.2	11.812 h
February	29.0°C24.0°C	24.0°C	51	10.3	11.912 h
March	29.6°C24.7°C	24.7°C	65	13.9	12.112 h
April	29.2°C25.4°C	25.4°C	147	22.6	12.312 h
May	28.6°C25.5°C	25.5°C	279	28.6	12.412 h
June	28.1°C25.2°C	25.2°C	244	27.6	12.512 h
July	27.8°C24.9°C	24.9°C	214	27.5	12.412 h
August	27.7°C24.8°C	24.8°C	207	27.3	12.312 h
September	27.7°C24.7°C	24.7°C	240	26.5	12.212 h
October	27.8°C24.5°C	24.5°C	263	26.5	12.012 h
November	28.0°C24.2°C	24.2°C	250	23.5	11.912 h
December	28.0°C23.9°C	23.9°C	148	18.5	11.812 h

Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain 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

Distance from Galle

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 limits

How these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Galle) is explained once on the Galle year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.