Fort Lauderdale in January: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and Things to Do

FORT LAUDERDALE · JANUARY · BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

Fort Lauderdale in January gives a winter trip a 75.6°F afternoon and an Atlantic that averages a couple of degrees warmer still. The hurricane season closed on November 30, so a January vacation here books with the storm calendar a month or more behind it. Beach mornings, boardwalk walks and a paddle before lunch all fit inside mild air.

Nights at the airport average 60.9°F, the coolest of the three winter months we compare, and on the 15th the sun is gone by 5:51 p.m. If you still need the neighborhoods and the hotels, start with our Fort Lauderdale guide. For the statewide calendar, the best time to visit Florida lays out all twelve months.

On this page

• Fort Lauderdale weather in JanuaryHighs of 75.6°F and lows of 60.9°F at the airport
• Is the ocean warm enough to swim in January?A 77.6°F sea, measured as daily maxima
• How busy Fort Lauderdale gets and what the room tax addsCruise turnover days and Broward’s 6% rental tax
• Things to do in Fort Lauderdale in JanuaryThree state parks with beach, boardwalk and paddle launches
• A two-day January itineraryTwo days set around a 7:08 a.m. sunrise and a 5:51 p.m. sunset
• January, December or February?Highs, lows, rain and sea for December to February
• Is January a good time to visit?Who should book January and who should wait for February

Flying in for a long weekend or starting a cruise? Our Florida flights guide covers the airports, what a Florida trip costs sets the budget, and getting around Florida weighs the rental car against the bus.

Fort Lauderdale weather in January: average highs, lows and rain days

Every air figure here comes from one thermometer: the NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for station USW00012849, “FT LAUDERDALE HOLLYWOOD AP,” a real gauge rather than a reanalysis grid cell. It stands at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, about three miles inland from the sand, so read the normals below as airport conditions that the beach may not match to the degree. At that station, January averages a high of 75.6°F, a low of 60.9°F and 2.90 inches of precipitation.

Measurable rain, a tenth of an inch or more, falls on 3.8 days of an average January: roughly one day in eight. A downpour of an inch or more comes on 0.5 day, so about every second January brings one. Most of the month’s 2.90 inches therefore lands on a handful of days. Keep one indoor plan in reserve and book boat or kayak outings with a free reschedule.

From the 75.6°F afternoon to the 60.9°F dawn, the temperature swings 14.7°F, enough to feel in shorts at breakfast. Pack a light sweater, long pants for dinner and a dry cover-up for after a swim. Stepping out of the ocean into air in the low 60s on an early morning is when that layer earns its place in the beach bag.

On January 15 the day lasts about 10 hours 43 minutes, according to sunrise-sunset.org: sunrise at 7:08 a.m. and sunset at 5:51 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Plan the beach before 3 p.m., be on the sand by 5:30 p.m. for the sunset, and expect a 6 p.m. dinner reservation to start after dark.

Can you swim in Fort Lauderdale in January? Sea temperature and what it feels like

Sea surface off Fort Lauderdale averages 77.6°F in January, according to the Open-Meteo Marine API over 2015-2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima, the warmest reading of each day, so it sits a shade above a 24-hour average.

In practice, the water averages about 2°F above the afternoon air and some 16.7°F above the dawn low. Expect the first minute to feel cool and the air to feel colder than the sea once you are out, especially before noon. Swim between late morning and 3 p.m., when the air nears its 75.6°F high, and keep a towel within reach.

We found no wind or swell series for Fort Lauderdale in January, so we give no wave height or wind speed. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, each of the three state parks nearby keeps one designated swimming area. Swim there, and check the conditions posted at the beach on the day.

How busy is Fort Lauderdale in January? Crowds and prices

January falls in Florida’s drier half of the year, well outside the June-to-November hurricane season. That is a calendar fact, not a price ranking: we found no hotel occupancy series or monthly room-rate data, so we crown no month cheap or expensive. Traffic we can measure. FLL boarded 17,096,131 passengers in 2024, enough for the FAA to class it a large hub, and Port Everglades handled more than 4.7 million cruise passengers in fiscal 2025.

Port Everglades is a homeport: ships start and end their voyages there, so the airport and the beach hotels fill on the same two days of the week. Look up your ship’s departure and return days, or those of the big sailings if you are not cruising, and book those hotel nights first, six to eight weeks ahead (est.) for a January weekend. Nights between turnover days face less of that cruise traffic.

Broward County levies a 6.0% transient rental tax, filed and paid together with Florida’s 6% state sales tax, according to the Florida Department of Revenue. Stacked, the two come to 12% on the room. We did not verify any other local surcharge, so ask the hotel for its full tax line, plus any resort or parking fee, before you book.

If one line of the budget deserves more money in January, make it a room within walking distance of the sand. With under 11 hours of daylight in mid-month, every drive and every parking hunt comes out of beach time, and a short walk home beats a late drive on a 60-degree night. Our Florida where-to-stay guide covers the trade-offs.

Things to do in Fort Lauderdale in January

Mild afternoons open the day to moving rather than lounging. At 75.6°F on average, a trail at noon stays comfortable, a boardwalk walk needs no dawn start, and a kayak outing can run through lunch. Add a swim in water warmer than the air and a single January day can hold a hike, a paddle and the beach.

Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, in Dania Beach, has the most beach of the three: the state counts 2.2 miles of sand, 2.6 miles of hiking trail, 4,531 feet of boardwalk, one designated swimming area and 1,410 parking spaces. Hugh Taylor Birch State Park holds 0.1 mile of beach, 0.3 mile of trail, 60 feet of boardwalk, one canoe, kayak and tube launch and 275 spaces. Farther south in the metro area, Oleta River State Park adds 0.3 mile of bay-side beach, two paddle launches, 14 cabins and 925 spaces. Broward County runs more than 50 parks of its own on top.

Air and sea sit close together in the afternoon and far apart at dawn, and that gap sets the order of a park day. Take the trail and the boardwalk in the cool morning, move to the swimming area after lunch when the air nears its high, and save the kayak launch at Hugh Taylor Birch for mid-afternoon. For more ideas across the state, see things to do in Florida.

We could not read the state parks’ entrance fees or opening hours, so we call none of them free and give no times. Check each park’s official page before you drive. The sunset at 5:51 p.m. on January 15 costs nothing to watch from the beach.

Fort Lauderdale in January: a two-day itinerary

Day one begins with the 7:08 a.m. sunrise and a beach walk while the air is still near its 60.9°F low. Once the gates open, drive to Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park for the boardwalk and a stretch of its 2.6 miles of trail. After lunch, swim in the designated area between noon and 3 p.m., with the sea near its daily peak. Head back to change by 4 p.m., reach the sand by 5:30 p.m. for the 5:51 p.m. sunset, and book dinner for 6:30 p.m. with the sweater on.

Day two starts at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park with a morning paddle from its canoe, kayak and tube launch, then an afternoon on the beach. If rain arrives, as it does on 3.8 days of an average January, swap the order: stay near the hotel, ride Broward County Transit on a $5.00 All Day Pass bought on the bus, and hold the paddle for the next dry afternoon. On a cruise turnover day, leave extra time for the airport. Longer trips can borrow from our 7-day Florida itinerary.

Fort Lauderdale in January vs December and February

January has the coolest air of the three at the airport station. Its 75.6°F high trails December by 2.1°F and February by 1.8°F, and its 60.9°F low sits 3.8°F under December and 2.4°F under February. It also carries the most precipitation, 2.90 inches against 2.78 and 2.38, over 3.8 rain days, between December’s 4.2 and February’s 3.4. The sea, from the Open-Meteo Marine API rather than the station, reads 79.3°F, 77.6°F and 77.5°F across the three months.

Shift four weeks later and February gains 1.8°F in the afternoon and 2.4°F at night, with 0.52 inch less rain and fewer wet days, for water only 0.1°F cooler. Shift four weeks earlier and December adds 1.7°F of sea temperature and the warmest nights of the three, at the cost of the most rain days. We found no monthly rate series, so price stays out of the choice.

Is January a good time to visit Fort Lauderdale?

Yes, for a vacation where comfort outdoors in daylight matters most: walkers, paddlers, couples on a long weekend, and travelers adding two nights before or after a cruise. No, if the trip is about evenings outside in shorts or the warmest water of winter, since nights average 60.9°F and the sea has slipped from December’s 79.3°F to 77.6°F.

If January is not your month, pick February: afternoons average 77.4°F, nights 63.3°F, and the sea stays within a tenth of a degree of January’s. Families should also check school calendars against our Florida with kids guide before choosing the week.

Among these three months, January alone pairs a noon swim in 77.6°F water with a 75.6°F afternoon for everything you do on dry land around it.

The last word

Choose January for cool mornings and a sea warmer than the air, then sleep close to the sand and plan each day around the light. A car can stay optional for the week: a Broward County Transit 7-day pass costs $20.00, and riders 65 and over or under 18 pay $1.00 a ride. Pack the sweater, set the alarm for 7:08 a.m., and be on the beach by 5:30 p.m.

Sources & data for this guide

• January, December and February air normals, precipitation and rain days · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012849 (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International) · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Station identity and location, about three miles inland · NOAA NCEI Search service · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Sea surface, mean of daily maxima, 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset on January 15, converted to Eastern Standard Time · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Hurricane season dates · NOAA National Hurricane Center · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Broward transient rental tax and state sales tax · Florida Department of Revenue, form DR-15TDT · checked Sep 24, 2026
• State park beach, trail, boardwalk, launches, cabins and parking · Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Recreational Facilities Inventory 2024 · checked Sep 24, 2026
• FLL passenger boardings, calendar year 2024 · Federal Aviation Administration · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Port Everglades cruise passengers, FY2025, and homeport role · Broward County, porteverglades.net · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Bus fares and passes · Broward County Transit, broward.org/bct/fares · checked Sep 24, 2026
• County park count · Broward County Parks and Recreation · checked Sep 24, 2026
• We could not read state park entrance fees, opening hours, wind or swell data, so we give none. The six-to-eight-week booking window is our estimate. Check operators when you book.

To plan your stay

• Things to Do in Fort Lauderdale: Three State Parks, 14 Cabins and $2.00 Bus Fares
• Best Time to Visit Fort Lauderdale: Weather, Sea Temperature and the Quiet Months
• Fort Lauderdale in February: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and a Two-Day Plan
• Fort Lauderdale in December: Weather, Sea Temperature and Crowds

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