Climate averages 1991–2020
Columbus weather
in January.
A cold, moderately wet month: the coolest and the 6th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a cold month in Columbus: daytime highs average 2.2°C and nights cool to about -6.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 84 mm of rain on roughly 11 days, which makes January a moderately wet month (the 6th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 41 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Dayton (104 km away). In January its highs average 2.3°C, about as warm as Columbus, with 82 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Columbus ranks joint 386th of 498 for the warmest January highs and joint 306th of 498 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 498 cities is 9.5°C; Columbus is 7.3°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 2.2°C to 4.4°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 84 mm to 71 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
Columbus climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | 2.2°C-6.1°C | -6.1°C | 84 | 10.7 | 9.710 h |
| February | 4.4°C-4.7°C | -4.7°C | 71 | 9.4 | 10.711 h |
| March | 9.7°C-0.2°C | -0.2°C | 98 | 11.2 | 11.912 h |
| April | 16.6°C5.6°C | 5.6°C | 115 | 12.4 | 13.213 h |
| May | 21.8°C11.6°C | 11.6°C | 113 | 13.3 | 14.414 h |
| June | 26.3°C16.8°C | 16.8°C | 103 | 11.9 | 15.015 h |
| July | 28.3°C19.0°C | 19.0°C | 88 | 11.1 | 14.715 h |
| August | 27.8°C18.3°C | 18.3°C | 73 | 9.6 | 13.714 h |
| September | 24.3°C14.6°C | 14.6°C | 73 | 8.3 | 12.512 h |
| October | 17.5°C8.3°C | 8.3°C | 74 | 9.0 | 11.211 h |
| November | 10.3°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 80 | 9.4 | 10.010 h |
| December | 4.5°C-2.7°C | -2.7°C | 86 | 10.3 | 9.49 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
- Dayton in JanuaryUnited States · 104 kmHigh 2.3°C · Low -5.5°C · 82 mm rain
- Cincinnati in JanuaryUnited States · 160 kmHigh 3.5°C · Low -4.8°C · 83 mm rain
- Canton (Ohio), United States in JanuaryUnited States · 166 kmHigh 1.4°C · Low -6.7°C · 82 mm precipitation
- Meads in JanuaryUnited States · 174 kmHigh 5.8°C · Low -2.5°C · 90 mm rain
- Akron in JanuaryUnited States · 177 kmHigh 1.2°C · Low -7.1°C · 80 mm precipitation
- Parma, United States in JanuaryUnited States · 193 kmHigh 0.7°C · Low -6.5°C · 81 mm precipitation
- Toledo, United States in JanuaryUnited States · 195 kmHigh 0.1°C · Low -7.3°C · 66 mm precipitation
- Cleveland in JanuaryUnited States · 203 kmHigh 0.7°C · Low -5.7°C · 81 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 Columbus) is explained once on the Columbus year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.