Climate averages 1991–2020

Duluth weather
in January.

A freezing month with light precipitation: the coolest and the driest of the year.

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

Average high -7.2°C Daytime mean, January

Average low -13.9°C Night-time mean, January

Precipitation 26 mm 6 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 9 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

January is a freezing month in Duluth: daytime highs average -7.2°C and nights cool to about -13.9°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.

Expect about 26 mm of precipitation on roughly 6 days, which makes January a month with light precipitation (the driest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 00 min on an average January day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Brooklyn Park (211 km away). In January its highs average -5.4°C, 1.8°C warmer than Duluth, with 24 mm of precipitation.

Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Duluth ranks 497th of 498 for the warmest January highs and joint 43rd of 498 for the driest January (precipitation, lowest first). The mean January high of those 498 cities is 9.5°C; Duluth is 16.7°C cooler than that mean.

From January to February, average highs rise by 2.0°C to -5.2°C, and monthly precipitation rises from 26 mm to 28 mm.

The annual picture

January in context

30-year average

Average highAverage low°C

Monthly precipitation

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

Duluth climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Duluth, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Precipitation mm/month	Wet days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January, selected	-7.2°C-13.9°C	-13.9°C	26	6.3	9.09 h
February	-5.2°C-12.0°C	-12.0°C	28	5.4	10.310 h
March	0.5°C-6.1°C	-6.1°C	49	7.3	11.912 h
April	6.5°C-0.2°C	-0.2°C	84	10.2	13.614 h
May	13.4°C6.5°C	6.5°C	97	11.1	15.015 h
June	19.6°C13.2°C	13.2°C	105	11.6	15.816 h
July	23.9°C17.8°C	17.8°C	98	11.7	15.515 h
August	23.6°C17.8°C	17.8°C	102	10.5	14.214 h
September	19.5°C13.8°C	13.8°C	92	10.6	12.613 h
October	11.6°C6.6°C	6.6°C	103	10.8	10.911 h
November	3.6°C-1.1°C	-1.1°C	66	8.9	9.49 h
December	-3.2°C-8.8°C	-8.8°C	45	7.5	8.69 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

Distance from Duluth

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 Duluth) is explained once on the Duluth year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.