Weather locations in Lebanon

Lebanon is a narrow country on the eastern Mediterranean, with the sea to the west and the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges running along its length. That simple arrangement produces a classic Mediterranean climate of dry hot summers and wet cool winters, plus a strong vertical split: the coast is hot and breezy, while the mountains above 1,500 metres are cold and snow-covered for much of the year.

Main climate types

The coastal plain, from Beirut north to Tripoli, is a hot-summer Mediterranean type. The mountain belt, and especially the upper Bekaa valley, is cooler, wetter and snowy in winter. The eastern side of the Anti-Lebanon, including the Bekaa and the slopes of Mount Hermon, is the driest part of the country, with snow lying on the highest peaks for much of the year. The Litani river rises in the Bekaa and runs south to the sea.

Temperatures

Beirut has January means about 13 degrees Celsius and July about 28, with high humidity in summer and barely any temperature drop at night. Tripoli, further up the coast, averages about 12 in January. The mountains are much cooler: at Cedars, above 2,000 metres, January means sit around -3, and the daily range there is wide even in midwinter.

Rainfall

Beirut receives about 800 millimetres a year, most of it between November and February, with July and August almost always dry. The western slopes of the Lebanon range take 1,000 to 1,500 millimetres. The eastern Bekaa valley is the driest part of the country, around 350 millimetres, while the highest slopes near Ehden keep snow well into spring.

When to go

May to early July, and September to October, are the best months on the coast, before and after the summer heat. The ski season on the Lebanon range, at Cedars, Mzaar and Faqa, runs from mid-December to mid-April and sometimes into May.