Climate averages 1991–2020
Basel weather
in January.
A cold, moderately wet month: the coolest and the 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a cold month in Basel: daytime highs average 5.4°C and nights cool to about -1.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 80 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes January a moderately wet month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 8 h 55 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Mulhouse (28 km away). In January its highs average 5.0°C, about as warm as Basel, with 75 mm of rain.
Among the 8 cities listed in Switzerland, Basel ranks 1st of 8 for the warmest January highs and joint 2nd of 8 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 8 cities is 4.5°C; Basel is 0.9°C warmer than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 1.5°C to 6.9°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 80 mm to 73 mm.
The annual picture
January in context
Monthly rainfall
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
Basel climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | 5.4°C-1.7°C | -1.7°C | 80 | 13.5 | 8.99 h |
| February | 6.9°C-1.5°C | -1.5°C | 73 | 11.7 | 10.210 h |
| March | 11.1°C1.4°C | 1.4°C | 83 | 13.5 | 11.912 h |
| April | 15.0°C4.6°C | 4.6°C | 90 | 14.1 | 13.614 h |
| May | 18.7°C8.9°C | 8.9°C | 129 | 16.8 | 15.115 h |
| June | 22.3°C12.7°C | 12.7°C | 118 | 15.8 | 15.916 h |
| July | 24.5°C14.8°C | 14.8°C | 121 | 15.4 | 15.616 h |
| August | 24.5°C14.9°C | 14.9°C | 125 | 15.1 | 14.314 h |
| September | 20.1°C10.8°C | 10.8°C | 95 | 12.6 | 12.613 h |
| October | 15.4°C6.7°C | 6.7°C | 97 | 13.2 | 10.911 h |
| November | 9.4°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 94 | 13.0 | 9.49 h |
| December | 5.8°C-0.8°C | -0.8°C | 101 | 14.1 | 8.59 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
- Mulhouse in JanuaryFrance · 28 kmHigh 5.0°C · Low -1.2°C · 75 mm rain
- Freiburg in JanuaryGermany · 53 kmHigh 5.3°C · Low -1.2°C · 91 mm rain
- Bern in JanuarySwitzerland · 69 kmHigh 3.8°C · Low -3.3°C · 80 mm rain
- Zürich in JanuarySwitzerland · 76 kmHigh 4.8°C · Low -1.4°C · 92 mm rain
- Luzern in JanuarySwitzerland · 79 kmHigh 4.6°C · Low -0.9°C · 117 mm rain
- Winterthur in JanuarySwitzerland · 87 kmHigh 4.5°C · Low -1.9°C · 79 mm rain
- Villingen-Schwenningen in JanuaryGermany · 89 kmHigh 2.3°C · Low -4.1°C · 87 mm rain
- Strasbourg in JanuaryFrance · 115 kmHigh 5.4°C · Low -0.5°C · 72 mm rain
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 Basel) is explained once on the Basel year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.