January 2° · ☂ 3 February 5° · ☂ 3 March 12° · ☂ 5 April 18° · ☂ 7 ★ May23° · ☂ 7 June 28° · ☂ 7 July 30° · ☂ 14 August 30° · ☂ 11 ★ September27° · ☂ 7 October 20° · ☂ 6 November 12° · ☂ 6 December 4° · ☂ 5 Seoul in January:bitterly cold, little snow Seoul, South Korea · Records from 2006 to 2025. Not a forecast.
Mean high 2° Hottest day 12.8° (2021)
Mean low −5° Coldest night −21.8° (2010)
Rain or snow days 3 days 0-6 by year
Rainfall 14mm Daylight 9.6 → 10.3 h
Seoul's 12 months i Best: May and September
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Trip types Sightseeing on foot Poorcold Snow Poorsnow on the ground often
Humidity 63% 0 muggy days
Clear days 12 days 5 overcast days
Mean wind 9 km/h Rarely windy
Snow days 2 days about 4 cm of fresh snow a month
Sunrise / sunset (15th) 07:46 / 17:36 Daylight 9.6 → 10.3 h
Seoul in January The coldest month of the year. Bitter spells of a few days alternate with milder ones, a pattern Koreans call samhan saon, three cold days and four warm. In winters with long cold snaps, the Han River freezes over around this time. The air is very dry, so bring lip balm and hand cream.
Seoul in January was a deep-winter month, with highs of 2°C and lows of −5°C. Precipitation was rare: 3 precipitation days on average. 3 of 20 years had a completely dry January, while 2023 reached 6 precipitation days.
The month opened with 9.6 hours of daylight and closed with 10.3. Dusk came early. Frost touched 28 nights of the month on average, enough to glaze puddles and shaded steps at first light. Not every year was typical: 2020 ran 3.5°C warmer than the mean, with highs of 5.8°C. The coldest night came in 2010, at −21.8°C.
How long it rained On a rainy day it rained for about 3.4 hours. Rain came at any time of day.
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21
Typhoons i Typhoons: July to October
Date by date i Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Week
January 1 Friday 1 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° January 2 Saturday 2 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −4° 1-2 rain on 5% of days 2° −5°
January 3 Sunday 3 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° January 4 Monday 4 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 3° −5° January 5 Tuesday 5 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° January 6 Wednesday 6 rain in 5 of 20 yrs 5/20 2° −6° January 7 Thursday 7 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −6° January 8 Friday 8 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° January 9 Saturday 9 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −6° 3-9 rain on 9% of days 2° −6°
January 10 Sunday 10 rain in 0 of 20 yrs 0/20 1° −7° January 11 Monday 11 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −7° January 12 Tuesday 12 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −7° January 13 Wednesday 13 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° January 14 Thursday 14 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° January 15 Friday 15 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° January 16 Saturday 16 rain in 0 of 20 yrs 0/20 1° −6° 10-16 rain on 5% of days 2° −6°
January 17 Sunday 17 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° January 18 Monday 18 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 3° −6° January 19 Tuesday 19 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 3° −4° January 20 Wednesday 20 rain in 4 of 20 yrs 4/20 4° −4° January 21 Thursday 21 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 3° −4° January 22 Friday 22 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 3° −4° January 23 Saturday 23 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −5° 17-23 rain on 11% of days 3° −5°
January 24 Sunday 24 rain in 0 of 20 yrs 0/20 1° −6° January 25 Monday 25 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 1° −6° January 26 Tuesday 26 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 2° −5° January 27 Wednesday 27 rain in 4 of 20 yrs 4/20 3° −5° January 28 Thursday 28 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 3° −5° January 29 Friday 29 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 3° −4° January 30 Saturday 30 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 4° −4° 24-30 rain on 11% of days 2° −5°
January 31 Sunday 31 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 4° −4°
January 31 rain on 15% of days 4° −4°
1-2 rain on 5% of days 2° −5° 3-9 rain on 9% of days 2° −6° 10-16 rain on 5% of days 2° −6° 17-23 rain on 11% of days 3° −5° 24-30 rain on 11% of days 2° −5° January 31 rain on 15% of days 4° −4°
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Week
January 1 Saturday 1 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° January 1 rain on 5% of days 2° −6°
January 2 Sunday 2 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −4° January 3 Monday 3 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° January 4 Tuesday 4 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 3° −5° January 5 Wednesday 5 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° January 6 Thursday 6 rain in 5 of 20 yrs 5/20 2° −6° January 7 Friday 7 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −6° January 8 Saturday 8 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° 2-8 rain on 9% of days 2° −6°
January 9 Sunday 9 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −6° January 10 Monday 10 rain in 0 of 20 yrs 0/20 1° −7° January 11 Tuesday 11 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −7° January 12 Wednesday 12 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 1° −7° January 13 Thursday 13 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° January 14 Friday 14 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −6° January 15 Saturday 15 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° 9-15 rain on 6% of days 1° −6°
January 16 Sunday 16 rain in 0 of 20 yrs 0/20 1° −6° January 17 Monday 17 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 2° −6° January 18 Tuesday 18 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 3° −6° January 19 Wednesday 19 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 3° −4° January 20 Thursday 20 rain in 4 of 20 yrs 4/20 4° −4° January 21 Friday 21 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 3° −4° January 22 Saturday 22 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 3° −4° 16-22 rain on 10% of days 3° −5°
January 23 Sunday 23 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 2° −5° January 24 Monday 24 rain in 0 of 20 yrs 0/20 1° −6° January 25 Tuesday 25 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 1° −6° January 26 Wednesday 26 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 2° −5° January 27 Thursday 27 rain in 4 of 20 yrs 4/20 3° −5° January 28 Friday 28 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 3° −5° January 29 Saturday 29 rain in 1 of 20 yrs 1/20 3° −4° 23-29 rain on 11% of days 2° −5°
January 30 Sunday 30 rain in 2 of 20 yrs 2/20 4° −4° January 31 Monday 31 rain in 3 of 20 yrs 3/20 4° −4°
30-31 rain on 13% of days 4° −4°
January 1 rain on 5% of days 2° −6° 2-8 rain on 9% of days 2° −6° 9-15 rain on 6% of days 1° −6° 16-22 rain on 10% of days 3° −5° 23-29 rain on 11% of days 2° −5° 30-31 rain on 13% of days 4° −4°
Tap another date to change
2006 none
2007 3mm
2008 none
2009 none
2010 none
2011 none
2012 none
2013 none
2014 none
2015 1mm
2016 none
2017 none
2018 none
2019 none
2020 2mm
2021 none
2022 none
2023 4mm
2024 2mm
2025 none
Holidays in January (2027) January 1 to January 3 New Year long weekendJanuary 1 New Year's DayJanuary 18 Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. 1 Local public holiday or break (busier, pricier)1 US holidays (flights fill up)
Day by day temperature i −12° −3° 5° 14° 1 8 15 22 29 31
Your trip dates, the past 20 years Trip dates January 1 (Fri) 2 (Sat) 3 (Sun) 4 (Mon) 5 (Tue) 6 (Wed) 7 (Thu) 8 (Fri) 9 (Sat) 10 (Sun) 11 (Mon) 12 (Tue) 13 (Wed) 14 (Thu) 15 (Fri) 16 (Sat) 17 (Sun) 18 (Mon) 19 (Tue) 20 (Wed) 21 (Thu) 22 (Fri) 23 (Sat) 24 (Sun) 25 (Mon) 26 (Tue) 27 (Wed) 28 (Thu) 29 (Fri) 30 (Sat) 31 (Sun) ~ January 1 (Fri) 2 (Sat) 3 (Sun) 4 (Mon) 5 (Tue) 6 (Wed) 7 (Thu) 8 (Fri) 9 (Sat) 10 (Sun) 11 (Mon) 12 (Tue) 13 (Wed) 14 (Thu) 15 (Fri) 16 (Sat) 17 (Sun) 18 (Mon) 19 (Tue) 20 (Wed) 21 (Thu) 22 (Fri) 23 (Sat) 24 (Sun) 25 (Mon) 26 (Tue) 27 (Wed) 28 (Thu) 29 (Fri) 30 (Sat) 31 (Sun) 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-end Whole month
You can also click two dates on the axis. Hover a cell to see that day's rain. By year Driest trips first
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Trip rain days Month rain days Tap a date to start, tap another to end. Each cell is that date in one year. '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 '21 '22 '23 '24 '25
of 20 Dates outside your trip are dimmed.
One row per year, one cell per day. 2009 had 0 rain days, 2023 had 6.
What to pack Highs of 2°C and lows of −5°C called for everything: down coat, thermal base layer, wool socks and a hat that covers the ears. Waterproof boots with grip beat style.
Rain barely mattered in this month. Plan around dry streets.
Common questions Does it rain a lot in Seoul in January? Over the past 20 years January averaged 3 rain days (1 mm or more) out of 31. Individual years ran from 0 in the driest to 6 in the wettest.
What should I wear in Seoul in January? Days averaged 2°C and nights −5°C. Pack a heavy down coat and gloves plus a scarf.
Is January a good time to visit Seoul? On warmth and rain days alone, Seoul's easiest months were May and September. January ranked 7 of 12.
How many clear days does Seoul get in January? About 12 clear days (under 30% cloud on average) and 5 overcast days (80% or more).
Previous month Seoul in December Next month Seoul in February Whole year Seoul weather by month Where to go January By country South Korea: all cities this month Compare Compare with Busan Compare Compare with Tokyo