Weather locations in Iraq

Iraq fills the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates between the Arabian desert to the south and the mountains of Turkey and Iran to the north. Its climate is therefore one of extremes: an arid interior where summer heat is intense and winter nights turn cold, and hill country where rainfall is enough to support forest. The southern lowlands receive almost no rain at all.

Main climate types

Most of the lowland is classed as arid desert or hot semi-arid steppe. The northern governorates of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Kirkuk are where the climate shifts to a humid Mediterranean type with considerably more rain. The Jazira plain in the north-west and the desert margin south-west of Baghdad are the driest parts of the country. The country has just one substantial river system, and its water comes from the mountains.

Temperatures

Baghdad has January means near 14 degrees Celsius and July about 34, with the highest daytime temperatures in the lowlands well above 40 further south, at Basra and Nasiriyah. Nights in January drop to near 5 degrees, and there is occasional frost at the edges of the desert. In the northern mountains, at Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk, averages run near 5 in January and 24 in July.

Rainfall

Baghdad receives less than 150 millimetres a year and Basra under 100, with virtually none at all in summer. The northern hills take 600 to 1,000 millimetres, most of it between November and March. Iraq's rain is therefore heavily concentrated in the cold half of the year, and the remainder of the country depends on irrigation and river water for cultivation.

When to go

The period from late September to early May is when the country is most comfortable, with the best weather generally in the springs of March and April. The summer months of June to August are extremely hot in the lowlands and best avoided, especially for travel between the hills and the coast.