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Photo by King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Washington DC in January
ok · worth considering · the coolest month of the year
The year in Washington DC
Tap a month for its page
- JanJWashington DC in January: ok
- FebFWashington DC in February: ok
- MarMWashington DC in March: good
- AprAWashington DC in April: sweet spot
- MayMWashington DC in May: good
- JunJWashington DC in June: sweet spot
- JulJWashington DC in July: sweet spot
- AugAWashington DC in August: good, busy
- SepSWashington DC in September: sweet spot
- OctOWashington DC in October: good
- NovNWashington DC in November: ok
- DecDWashington DC in December: ok, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Plan this trip
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Where to stay
Book direct
Things to do
Car hire
Rent direct
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
The numbers
| Daily high | 6°C |
|---|---|
| Nightly low | -2°C |
| Feels like, afternoon | 2°C |
| Rainy days, 1 mm or more | 7 · 81 mm |
| Humidity | 68% |
| Sunshine | 6.1 h/day |
| Daylight | 9.8 h/day |
| Crowds | 80 / 100, higher is quieter |
Ten-year averages for this calendar month. A rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts it. The model these figures come from drizzles more than a rain gauge, the more so the warmer the month, so its days count from 2 mm, rising to 5 mm in the hottest.
How busy it gets
Public holidays in January
Holidays crowd a place out and push fares up around them; they count toward the crowd score above.
What January is known for
- Shoulder season — Winter months are quieter, providing better value, despite colder weather.
Written by a language model from the climate figures; the numbers above are measured and win where the two disagree.
Washington DC in pictures
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G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What to pack
- A proper coat, hat and gloves: nights average -2°C.
- A packable rain jacket for the 7 or so rainy days.
Each line is a threshold over the ten-year figures above, not advice from anywhere else.
Before you go
Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the United states dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise normal security precautions. Everything for United States: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
On arrival in Washington DC: the apps, paying, getting around, tipping and the emergency numbers.
January elsewhere
In January from
The other months at Washington DC
- January
- February ok
- March good
- April sweet spot
- May good
- June sweet spot
- July sweet spot
- August good
- September sweet spot
- October good
- November ok
- December ok
← December · All twelve months at Washington DC · February →
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