Climate averages 1991–2020

Rochester (New York), United States weather
in January.

A freezing 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 -0.2°C Daytime mean, January

Average low -6.7°C Night-time mean, January

Precipitation 85 mm 16 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 9 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

January is a freezing month in Rochester (New York), United States: daytime highs average -0.2°C and nights cool to about -6.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.

Expect about 85 mm of precipitation on roughly 16 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 23 min on an average January day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Cheektowaga (97 km away). In January its highs average -0.6°C, about as warm as Rochester (New York), United States, with 73 mm of precipitation.

Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Rochester (New York), United States ranks joint 435th of 498 for the warmest January highs and joint 318th of 498 for the driest January (precipitation, lowest first). The mean January high of those 498 cities is 9.5°C; Rochester (New York), United States is 9.7°C cooler than that mean.

From January to February, average highs rise by 0.6°C to 0.4°C, and monthly precipitation falls from 85 mm to 67 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

Rochester (New York), United States climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Rochester (New York), United States, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Precipitation mm/month	Wet days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January, selected	-0.2°C-6.7°C	-6.7°C	85	15.5	9.49 h
February	0.4°C-7.1°C	-7.1°C	67	11.1	10.510 h
March	4.5°C-3.4°C	-3.4°C	80	11.6	11.912 h
April	10.9°C2.6°C	2.6°C	100	11.8	13.413 h
May	17.3°C9.0°C	9.0°C	81	11.4	14.615 h
June	22.5°C14.8°C	14.8°C	89	11.5	15.315 h
July	25.7°C18.2°C	18.2°C	89	11.1	15.015 h
August	25.1°C17.8°C	17.8°C	80	11.7	13.914 h
September	21.6°C14.3°C	14.3°C	88	10.7	12.513 h
October	14.8°C8.4°C	8.4°C	109	13.3	11.111 h
November	8.2°C2.3°C	2.3°C	95	14.0	9.810 h
December	2.6°C-2.7°C	-2.7°C	95	15.9	9.19 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 Rochester

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 Rochester) is explained once on the Rochester (New York), United States year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.