Climate averages 1991–2020
Durham weather
in January.
A cool, wet month: the coolest and the 7th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a cool month in Durham: daytime highs average 9.5°C and nights cool to about 0.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 92 mm of rain on roughly 9 days, which makes January a wet month (the 7th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 01 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Cary (25 km away). In January its highs average 9.5°C, about as warm as Durham, with 93 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Durham ranks joint 250th of 498 for the warmest January highs and joint 371st of 498 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 498 cities is 9.5°C; Durham is level with that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 2.1°C to 11.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 92 mm to 81 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
Durham climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | 9.5°C0.1°C | 0.1°C | 92 | 9.4 | 10.010 h |
| February | 11.6°C1.2°C | 1.2°C | 81 | 8.9 | 10.911 h |
| March | 15.8°C4.6°C | 4.6°C | 108 | 10.5 | 11.912 h |
| April | 21.1°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 89 | 9.3 | 13.113 h |
| May | 25.4°C14.7°C | 14.7°C | 88 | 10.6 | 14.114 h |
| June | 29.4°C19.4°C | 19.4°C | 98 | 12.0 | 14.615 h |
| July | 31.4°C21.9°C | 21.9°C | 110 | 14.9 | 14.314 h |
| August | 30.2°C21.0°C | 21.0°C | 99 | 11.6 | 13.514 h |
| September | 26.9°C17.9°C | 17.9°C | 112 | 9.4 | 12.412 h |
| October | 21.4°C11.6°C | 11.6°C | 79 | 7.5 | 11.311 h |
| November | 15.5°C5.6°C | 5.6°C | 85 | 7.7 | 10.310 h |
| December | 11.1°C1.9°C | 1.9°C | 89 | 9.1 | 9.810 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
- Cary in JanuaryUnited States · 25 kmHigh 9.5°C · Low 0.9°C · 93 mm rain
- Raleigh in JanuaryUnited States · 34 kmHigh 9.8°C · Low 1.0°C · 93 mm rain
- Greensboro in JanuaryUnited States · 81 kmHigh 8.5°C · Low -0.6°C · 93 mm rain
- High Point in JanuaryUnited States · 100 kmHigh 8.6°C · Low -0.5°C · 95 mm rain
- Fayetteville in JanuaryUnited States · 105 kmHigh 11.2°C · Low 2.0°C · 90 mm rain
- Winston-Salem in JanuaryUnited States · 122 kmHigh 8.5°C · Low -0.8°C · 92 mm rain
- Greenville in JanuaryUnited States · 145 kmHigh 10.9°C · Low 1.9°C · 94 mm rain
- Lynchburg in JanuaryUnited States · 159 kmHigh 7.3°C · Low -1.4°C · 94 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 Durham) is explained once on the Durham year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.