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Coldest sea in North America in January

5,500 coastal locations in North America ranked by typical January sea temperature, coldest first. Region-wide average in January: 9.8°C.

Coldest in January

Dundas Harbour

-1.7°C January mean in Canada

Regional January average

9.8°C

across all 5,500 coastal locations in North America

Vs annual mean

-5.3°C

below the year-round regional average

What the North America sea feels like in January

This water is very cold and can cause pain. We don't recommend you swim in this temperature for anything other than very short swims of 5 to 10 minutes unless you are a very experienced cold water swimmer.

North America monthly average 9.3°C to 21.6°C
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  • Warmest month August 21.6°C
  • Coldest month February 9.3°C
  • Annual mean 15.2°C
  • Months above 20°C 3 of 12

Where January fits in the year

January sits inside the regional pattern shown on the left. Pick a different month to see how the ranking shifts.

All twelve North America month rankings:

North America sea temperature map (live)

The map shows today's latest reading at every North America location. The list below is based on the typical January mean.

Zoom in to see individual locations. Click a pin for water temperatures. View list →
°C -2 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 24 27 30 35

Top 50 coldest North America locations in January

Sorted by typical January mean from a decade of daily readings, coldest first. Click any place for the full location page.

# Location January mean
1 Dundas Harbour Nunavut -1.7°C
2 Grise Fiord Nunavut -1.7°C
3 Iceberg Point Nunavut -1.7°C
4 Iqaluit Nunavut -1.7°C
5 Cameron Island Nunavut -1.7°C
6 Milne Inlet Nunavut -1.7°C
7 Pisiktarfik Island Nunavut -1.7°C
8 Wrangel Bay Nunavut -1.7°C
9 Frobisher's Farthest Nunavut -1.7°C
10 Resor Island Nunavut -1.7°C
11 Airstrip Point Nunavut -1.7°C
12 Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay) Nunavut -1.7°C
13 Lewis Bay Nunavut -1.7°C
14 Radstock Bay Nunavut -1.7°C
15 Barrow Alaska -1.7°C
16 Beechey Island Nunavut -1.6°C
17 Brevoort Harbour Nunavut -1.6°C
18 Erebus Bay Nunavut -1.6°C
19 Pangnirtung Nunavut -1.6°C
20 Whale Cove Nunavut -1.6°C
21 Ashe Inlet Nunavut -1.6°C
22 Hamilton Island Nunavut -1.6°C
23 Rigby Bay Nunavut -1.6°C
24 Cape Espenberg, Kotzebue Sound Alaska -1.6°C
25 Alert Nunavut -1.6°C
Show 25 more ▸
26 Cape Sheridan Nunavut -1.6°C
27 Marble Island Nunavut -1.6°C
28 Norton Island Nunavut -1.6°C
29 Cape Krusenstern, Kotzebue Sound Alaska -1.6°C
30 Kivalina Alaska -1.6°C
31 Northeast Cape, St. Lawrence Island Alaska -1.6°C
32 Cape Kater Nunavut -1.6°C
33 Doctor Island Nunavut -1.6°C
34 Lake Harbour Nunavut -1.6°C
35 Pim Island Nunavut -1.6°C
36 Point Hope Alaska -1.6°C
37 Savoonga, St. Lawrence Island Alaska -1.6°C
38 Cape Capel Nunavut -1.6°C
39 Chesterfield Inlet Nunavut -1.6°C
40 Coral Harbour Nunavut -1.6°C
41 Fury Point Nunavut -1.6°C
42 Fossil River entrance, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska Alaska -1.6°C
43 Maknik Lagoon entrance, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska Alaska -1.6°C
44 Red Dog Dock Alaska -1.6°C
45 Discovery Harbour Nunavut -1.6°C
46 Sévigny Point Nunavut -1.6°C
47 Barrow (offshore) Alaska -1.6°C
48 Outside Lopp Lagoon Alaska -1.6°C
49 Point Barrow, Alaska Alaska -1.6°C
50 Point Barrow Alaska -1.6°C

Warmest 10 in North America in January

Same data the other way. The warmest spots for the same month.

# Location January mean
1 Puerto Chiapas Chiapas 28.8°C
2 Acapulco Guerrero 28.8°C
3 Maldonado Guerrero 28.8°C
4 Tecoanapa Guerrero 28.7°C
5 Ixtapa Guerrero 28.7°C
6 Zihuatanejo Guerrero 28.7°C
7 Acapulco-C,Gro. Guerrero 28.6°C
8 Brisas de Zicatela Oaxaca 28.5°C
9 Puerto Escondido Oaxaca 28.5°C
10 Troncones Guerrero 28.5°C

More on this region