‹ Hilton Head Island weather by month
Typical January weather
Hilton Head Island
South Carolina · January
60° days
40° nights
about 5 rainy days · 10½ hours of daylight · ocean 53°
What to pack
- Sweater
What January feels like
January is leisure-path season: you can ride the whole network from Sea Pines up to Port Royal without meeting a crowd. Frost forms inland more often than islanders like to admit, and the alligators go still and unbothered in the lagoons.
Expect about 5 days with real rain — enough to notice, not enough to plan around. The air runs dry — whatever the thermometer says, it wears easy. about 8 nights dip below freezing.
Can you swim?
The ocean runs about 53° — frigid — locals in wetsuits only.
The numbers
| Typical high | 60° |
|---|---|
| Typical low | 40° |
| Days with real rain | 5 |
| Total rain | 2.9 in |
| Humidity | dry air |
| Water temperature | 53° |
| Sunrise / sunset (mid-month) | 7:24 am / 5:40 pm |