Medellín weather in January
January in Medellín: hot, rainy, with muggy air — fine if you can take 18 rainy days.
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
#1 of 12 months in Medellín · #427 of 1413 destinations to visit in January · comfort 82/100 (tier A)
- Days
- 29°C
- Nights
- 18°C
- Wet days
- 18
- Sun
- 10.1 h
- Humidity
- 81%
- Daylight
- 12 h

Traveller notes on Medellín in January
The eternal spring thing is real — 22-28°C all year, which is why every month scores alike. January is the driest, and that's the whole difference. Afternoon rain is the pattern the rest of the time, so plan mornings.
Other months in Medellín
Regulars are specific that rain here varies so much by neighborhood that it can be genuinely pouring in Poblado while a nearby area like Laureles stays sunny at the very same hour, weather apps notoriously unreliable at capturing that hyperlocal split. Our row backs that hot, genuinely wet read, 28.7C reading as a hot 33C, over 18.1C nights, with a substantial 222.6mm of rain across an extraordinary 26.5 days and humidity at 84 percent. Regulars are consistent that a downpour typically lasts only 30 minutes to an hour, usually arriving in late afternoon, with plenty of nice weather still available earlier in the day. A compact umbrella carried at all times is the standard advice rather than trusting any single forecast. The record: 9.9 hours of sun, a 6.6 kph wind and AQI 49.
The city of eternal spring earns the name in our data: every month of the year tops out between 27 and 29C, and June reads 28.2C over 17.8C, which matches the board's mid-eighties by day and mid-sixties at night almost exactly. The rain column looks alarming at 26.7 days, and regulars defuse it before you can worry - it rains nearly every day but not all day. Sunny morning, shower from about four, sixty to ninety minutes, done. Plan the outdoors for the first half of the day and the 215.7mm stops mattering. At 87.3 percent humidity 28C reads as 32C, which is the one real cost. The record: 9.6 hours of sun, an almost still 6 kph wind and AQI 47.
The eternal spring is real in the sense that matters: regulars put the whole year at roughly 77 to 82F by day and 58 to 63F at night, and our February reads 28.9C over 18C. They call February part of the drier season, December to March, and our row looks like a flat contradiction at 166.7mm across 21.5 precipitation days. Their own description resolves it - it rarely rains all day here, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon but not usually both - which makes those 21.5 days about eight millimetres each. Flash afternoon thunderstorms are the usual form. The record: humidity 82 percent, 9.9 hours of sun, a 5.4 kph wind and AQI 56.
August in the city of eternal spring is warm, flowery and wetter than the nickname implies - our row counts 24 precipitation days carrying 178.8mm, which is most days of the month. The forum's correction is about timing rather than quantity: when it rains here it is usually late afternoon, evening or the middle of the night, often predictable almost to the hour, so the daylight hours mostly survive. They are also blunt that Colombian weather apps are useless inland, forecasting rain and thunderstorms every single day, because microclimates, mountains and altitude defeat them. August still has plenty of flowers, if fewer than July. The record: 29C days that feel like 33C, 18C nights, humidity 82 percent and 10.3 hours of sun.
Year-round notes are on Medellín's overview. Add your own note from Medellín's card on the map.
Medellín climate normals — January
Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.
Crowds in Medellín 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 crowdsThe Monday puentes, Alumbrados navidenos, Year-end holidays in Colombia(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Best months for Medellín'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).
Best weatherMedellín's best weather comes in January, July and December — separate windows, not one continuous season.
Best weatherFair weatherToughest weather
What's on in Medellín in January
Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.
- Holiday
The Monday puentes
1 Jan – 31 DecNational holidayCrowdedColombia moves most of its public holidays onto a Monday, so the country takes a long weekend roughly every month. Guatape, Jardin and the road out of the valley are solid on every one of them. Source ↗
- Opening
Alumbrados navidenos
28 Nov – 14 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowdedThe utility company strings millions of lights along the river and the main avenues and switches them on at the end of November, then leaves them up into mid-January. Weekend evenings on the river walk are shoulder to shoulder. Source ↗
- Season
The drier weeks between the rains
15 Dec – 10 MarDry seasonRain here runs on two cycles rather than one wet season, and the gaps are roughly late December to early March and again through July and August. Those are the weeks the pueblos day trip actually works.
- Holiday
Novenas and the December break
16 Dec – 6 JanChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook earlyNine nights of neighbourhood novenas from the sixteenth, then a fortnight in which Colombians who live abroad come home. Flights into Rionegro and city apartments both price like a peak season, because it is one. Source ↗
Nearby, and something's on
Within 300 km of Medellín — a day trip or a short hop — with something on this month. Never part of the comfort score.
Where is Medellín?
Medellín in January — FAQ
- Is January a good time to visit Medellín?
- January in Medellín: hot, rainy, with muggy air — fine if you can take 18 rainy days. It ranks #1 of 12 months for Medellín on SeasonMap's comfort score (82/100).
- What is the weather like in Medellín in January?
- In January, Medellín averages a daily high of 28.5°C and a low of 17.5°C, with about 109.9 mm of rain over roughly 18.4 rainy days.
- What is the air quality in Medellín in January?
- Medellín has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 55 in January.
Within 300 km: Guatapé's Christmas lights around 15 Nov – 10 Jan, and Bogotá's Christmas lights around 1 Dec – 8 Jan.