Fakaofo (Atafu) weather in January

January in Fakaofo: hot, soaked, with clean air — fine if you can take 22 rainy days.

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Fakaofo Tokelau · South Pacific · Island70
  1. 70Jan
  2. 60Feb
  3. 80Mar
  4. 74Apr
  5. 76May
  6. 78Jun
  7. 78Jul
  8. 81Aug
  9. 75Sep
  10. 73Oct
  11. 79Nov
  12. 69Dec

#10 of 12 months in Fakaofo · #701 of 1413 destinations to visit in January · comfort 70/100 (tier B)

Days
29°C
Nights
27°C
Wet days
22
Sun
10.2 h
Humidity
80%
Daylight
13 h
Fakaofo, Tokelau
Photo: No machine-readable author provided · CC BY-SA 3.0

Traveller notes on Fakaofo in January

Other months in Fakaofo

There's essentially no independent travel-forum content on Fakaofo specifically - it's one of three atolls making up Tokelau, a New Zealand territory with no airport, reachable only by an infrequent supply ship from Samoa, and virtually no tourism infrastructure at all. That absence is itself the clearest signal about what visiting here looks like. Real climate data for September shows a classic equatorial atoll pattern: warm, humid days around 28C, steady trade winds averaging near 28kph, and rain spread across roughly two-thirds of the month's days rather than concentrated in a defined wet season - conditions that change little across the calendar.
TokelauAtollRegular · September · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Forum coverage of Fakaofo and Tokelau's weather is essentially nonexistent given how few visitors reach this remote atoll group, accessible only by an infrequent supply ship from Samoa. Tokelau shares the same broad equatorial Pacific climate as nearby Samoa and Tuvalu, where March sits within the hotter, wetter half of the year (roughly November through April) rather than the relatively drier austral-winter months. Given the total absence of detailed trip reports, the safest guidance is the regional pattern itself: expect consistently warm, humid, showery tropical conditions typical of a low-lying equatorial atoll, with no real dry season to speak of and rain a normal daily possibility rather than an exception.
Tripadvisor community · March · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Add your own note from Fakaofo's card on the map.

Fakaofo climate normals — January

Daytime high29°C / 83°F🥵 hot
Nighttime low27°C / 80°F
Feels like (high)33°C / 91°F
Sea temperature29°C / 85°F♨️ bath-warm
Rainfall270 mm / 10.6 in⛈ soaked
Rainy days22 days
Humidity80%💦 very humid
Dew point24°C / 75°F
Sunshine10.2 h/day
Daylight12.6 h
Wind25 km/h / 15 mph
Air quality (US AQI)39🍃 good

Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.

Crowds in Fakaofo 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.

BusyChristmas and New Year, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it(estimated)

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Best months for Fakaofo'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).

Fair weatherFakaofo's weather doesn't swing hard through the year — comfort stays fairly steady in every month.

JFMAMJJASOND

What's on in Fakaofo in January

Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.

  • Hazard

    Cyclone season

    1 Nov – 30 Apr

    The South Pacific season runs November to April. Fakaofo is barely above the sea and has no airstrip, so weather here means waiting it out and then waiting again for the boat from Apia. Source ↗

  • Holiday

    Christmas and New Year

    24 Dec – 2 JanChristmas & New YearClosures

    Christmas, Boxing Day and the first two days of January are public holidays, and the season between is given over to church, family feasts and fiafia exchanges of songs, skits and gifts; little official business gets done. Source ↗

  • Season

    Wet season

    MonsoonRisk

    22 rainy days and about 270 mm in the month — the real kind of rainy season, not afternoon showers.

    from the climate normals

What's on around the world in January →

Where is Fakaofo?

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Fakaofo in January — FAQ

Is January a good time to visit Fakaofo?
January in Fakaofo: hot, soaked, with clean air — fine if you can take 22 rainy days. It ranks #10 of 12 months for Fakaofo on SeasonMap's comfort score (70/100).
What is the weather like in Fakaofo in January?
In January, Fakaofo averages a daily high of 28.5°C and a low of 26.8°C, with about 270.2 mm of rain over roughly 21.8 rainy days.
What is the air quality in Fakaofo in January?
Fakaofo has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 39 in January.