Climate averages 1991–2020

Indianapolis weather
in January.

A cold month with moderate precipitation: the coolest and the 5th driest of the year.

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

Average high 1.9°C Daytime mean, January

Average low -6.0°C Night-time mean, January

Precipitation 80 mm 9 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 10 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

January is a cold month in Indianapolis: daytime highs average 1.9°C and nights cool to about -6.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.

Expect about 80 mm of precipitation on roughly 9 days, which makes January a month with moderate precipitation (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 42 min on an average January day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Carmel (24 km away). In January its highs average 1.6°C, about as warm as Indianapolis, with 79 mm of precipitation.

Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Indianapolis ranks joint 396th of 498 for the warmest January highs and joint 269th of 498 for the driest January (precipitation, lowest first). The mean January high of those 498 cities is 9.5°C; Indianapolis is 7.5°C cooler than that mean.

From January to February, average highs rise by 2.4°C to 4.4°C, and monthly precipitation falls from 80 mm to 66 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

Indianapolis climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Indianapolis, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Precipitation mm/month	Wet days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January, selected	1.9°C-6.0°C	-6.0°C	80	9.2	9.710 h
February	4.4°C-4.5°C	-4.5°C	66	8.6	10.711 h
March	10.1°C0.4°C	0.4°C	97	11.1	11.912 h
April	16.8°C6.5°C	6.5°C	120	12.0	13.213 h
May	22.0°C12.4°C	12.4°C	122	13.4	14.314 h
June	26.7°C17.5°C	17.5°C	107	11.8	14.915 h
July	28.5°C19.5°C	19.5°C	90	11.5	14.715 h
August	28.0°C18.9°C	18.9°C	72	8.9	13.714 h
September	24.6°C15.2°C	15.2°C	72	7.6	12.512 h
October	17.7°C8.9°C	8.9°C	83	8.4	11.211 h
November	10.2°C2.5°C	2.5°C	87	8.8	10.010 h
December	4.2°C-2.9°C	-2.9°C	78	9.9	9.49 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 Indianapolis

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