Chefchaouen (Blue City) weather in January
January in Chefchaouen: cool, a little rain, with clean air — a great time to visit.
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
#10 of 12 months in Chefchaouen · #607 of 1413 destinations to visit in January · comfort 74/100 (tier B)
- Days
- 15°C
- Nights
- 3°C
- Wet days
- 8
- Sun
- 8.4 h
- Humidity
- 82%
- Daylight
- 10 h

Traveller notes on Chefchaouen in January
Notes from nearby Tarifa (99 km away)
Chefchaouen doesn't have its own notes for January yet — these are about Tarifa, close enough to share the season.
Forum posters describe Tarifa as reliably windy essentially year-round, which is exactly what makes it Europe's windsurfing and kitesurfing capital regardless of season - posters note winds tend to be lighter in the morning and pick up as the day goes on, useful for timing a session. Posters are candid winter here is genuinely cool: the sea runs cold enough that a proper wetsuit is standard gear for January water sports, even though posters say you'd be unlucky not to catch at least a few genuinely warm, T-shirt-weather days within a winter stay. Posters are consistent Tarifa is a real, year-round working town rather than a seasonal tourist trap - rental shops, instruction and gear are available through the winter, not just in the busy summer months.
Other months in Chefchaouen
Forum posters describe November in Chefchaouen as cooler and very possibly rainy, with more recent accounts specifically warning it can turn cold, rainy and genuinely miserable by late in the month. Posters attribute this partly to the town's setting - not just in Morocco's colder north but also at roughly 700-750m elevation, surrounded by mountains whose weather runs even less predictable than the surrounding lowlands. Posters consistently recommend layered clothing with a wind- and waterproof shell as essential for a November visit. Posters generally rate November as a weaker pick for Chefchaouen weather-wise, with spring (April-May) or September consistently recommended instead as better alternatives.
May is the forum's month for northern Morocco — longer days, greenery, spring flowers, and unlikely to be either too hot or too cold. Chefchaouen adds its own variable: at 750m the mountain weather changes fast, and posters describe all four seasons thrown at you in a single day. The record puts May at 24°C by day and 14 overnight, warmer than the 19–21°C some visitors report, while one 2025 trip report describes an early heatwave running hot and dry. Spring rains more here than December does, though at under six wet days it is hardly a washout. Layers — and May rather than late March.
Add your own note from Chefchaouen's card on the map.
Chefchaouen climate normals — January
Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.
Crowds in Chefchaouen in January
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
Peak crowdsRamadan, Mid-year holiday in Morocco, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Best months for Chefchaouen's weather
Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).
Toughest weatherChefchaouen's best weather comes in May, June and September — separate windows, not one continuous season.
Best weatherFair weatherToughest weather
What's on in Chefchaouen in January
Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.
- Holiday
Ramadan
25 Jan – 25 Mar · usuallyClosuresThe medina cafés on Place Outa el Hammam serve nothing until sunset and the guesthouses are the only places eating. It is the quietest the blue streets get all year, and photographers rather like it. Source ↗
- Nature
Olive harvest in the Rif
1 Nov – 15 Jan · usuallyThe terraces below the town are picked by hand and the presses in the valley run day and night; the new oil turns up on breakfast tables within the week. Source ↗
- Season
The wet, cold months
1 Dec – 28 Feb · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosuresHalf the terrace restaurants shut and the guesthouses that stay open are often unheated, which matters more here than the forecast suggests. The upside is a medina with nobody in it. Source ↗
Nearby, and something's on
Within 300 km of Chefchaouen — a day trip or a short hop — with something on this month. Never part of the comfort score.
Where is Chefchaouen?
Chefchaouen in January — FAQ
- Is January a good time to visit Chefchaouen?
- January in Chefchaouen: cool, a little rain, with clean air — a great time to visit. It ranks #10 of 12 months for Chefchaouen on SeasonMap's comfort score (74/100).
- What is the weather like in Chefchaouen in January?
- In January, Chefchaouen averages a daily high of 15.4°C and a low of 2.8°C, with about 67.8 mm of rain over roughly 7.9 rainy days.
- What is the air quality in Chefchaouen in January?
- Chefchaouen has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 32 in January.
Within 300 km: Gibraltar's Christmas and Three Kings on 1 Dec – 6 Jan, and Ronda's Olive harvest around 15 Nov – 31 Jan.