Weather locations in Algeria

Algeria runs from the green, rain-fed Mediterranean coast in the north to the sand and stone of the Sahara in the south, and the desert, not the shoreline, sets the character of the climate. The coastal strip and the Atlas foothills have a mild, wet, Mediterranean regime, while everything south of the Saharan Atlas is hot desert, hot by day and cool by night, with rain almost unknown. Between them lies a band of dry steppe that refills each winter.

Main climate types

Almost the whole country falls into the hot desert class of the Köppen classification, with only a narrow Mediterranean border on the coast and in the Atlas foothills. The line between them runs roughly along the Saharan Atlas; the high Atlas, the Kabylie and the Aurès ranges catch more cloud and snow, and the Tademaït plateau and the Hoggar stay hot and arid through the winter.

Temperatures

Algiers, on the coast, averages about 13 °C in January and about 24 °C in July, a narrow range typical of a maritime position. Inland the swings widen: at Adrar and Béchar in the desert January means still sit near 13 °C while July means reach the mid-30s °C, and daytime highs above 45 °C are common in the hottest weeks. Winter nights in the desert fall to near or below 5 °C.

Rainfall

Rain is concentrated in the cool months. Algiers takes roughly 600 mm to 700 mm a year, mostly between November and March, and Oran about 400 mm. Behind the mountains the totals collapse: the high plateaus take perhaps 250 mm, while the deep desert basins around In Salah and Adrar may see as little as 20 mm in a whole year.

When to go

For the desert, the best months are from October to April, when the days are warm and the nights only cool. The coast can be visited in most months, though July and August are hot and crowded. Snow in the Atlas makes the northern mountain resorts usable from December to March.