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The climate of Iraq
Iraq is a country located in the southwestern part of Asia and is part of the political region the Middle East. Nowadays Iraq is mainly known because of the Gulf War and the fight against terrorist organization Al Qaida. Prior to the Gulf War there were several other wars in Iraq. During ancient times Mesopotamia, which is nowadays known as Iraq, has had several different rulers. Iraq became the country as we know it today in 1932 after the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Iraq has a small coastal line in the southeastern part of the country on the Persian Gulf. The landscape of Iraq mainly consists of low desert areas. Two important rivers flow through these deserts: the Euphrates and the Tigris. In the most northern tip of Iraq, also known as the Kurdistan region mainly mountainous areas can be found.

Climate information of places and areas in Iraq
The climate information on this page is only brief. Specific information about weather and climate can be found on the climate pages per area or town. As for Iraq the following climate information is available:

Climate types
The climate of Iraq is characterized by several types of dry and semi dry climates. When you travel from south to north the climate types change from a warm desert climate (type BWh according to the Köppen climate classification) into a warm steppe climate (type BSh) into a cold steppe climate (type BSk) into a moderate continental climate (type Dsb) in the mountainous areas in the north. The largest part of Iraq consists of deserts with mild to fairly cool winters and hot and dry summers. During the summer there are hardly any clouds. During the summer the total amount of hours of sunshine per day is correspondent with the hours of daylight.

Precipitation
Iraq doesn’t get much precipitation. Most precipitation can be expected during the winter. During the winter most regions get several tens of millimeters of rain during the wettest months. The only exception to this are the mountains in the north that get fairly high amounts of precipitation from November till April. Some places may get more than 100 millimeters of precipitation per month. In the higher regions precipitation mainly falls in the form of snow during the winter. Locally large amounts of snow may fall. During spring the northern part of Iraq may experience floods caused by large amounts of melting water in combination with rain.

Temperature
During the winter temperatures depend on the geographical situation and the altitude. Along the River Euphrates and Tigris winters are fairly mild with maximum temperatures between 12-20 degrees Celsius from December till February. However, subzero temperatures are not uncommon during the night, especially on ground levels. An exception to these mild winters are the mountainous regions in the northern part of the country where winters may be very bleak and snowstorms may cause harsh conditions. During the short spring (March, April) temperatures rapidly rise in the entire country. During the hottest months June, July, August and September average daytime temperatures of 38-44 degrees Celsius can be recorded. However, peaks in temperatures are not uncommon. During one of the thirty annual sandstorms that hit Iraq temperatures are hardly bearable. Sandstorms mainly occur during the hot summer. Especially during the afternoon chances of a traffic disordering sandstorm is highest.

Climate figures
Throughout Iraq several climate figures and temperatures can be recorded. The figures below are for the capital Baghdad and cannot be seen as an average for the country. Please, visit the individual climate pages for climate records on other places in Iraq.

	average  maximum temperature (°C)	average minimum temperature (°C)	average hours of sunshine per day	average days with precipitation per month	average mm precipitation per month	average sea temperature (°C)
January	16	4	6	6		n/a
February	19	6	7	6		n/a
March	23	10	8	5		n/a
April	29	15	9	4		n/a
May	36	20	11	2		n/a
June	41	24	14	0		n/a
July	44	26	14	0		n/a
August	43	25	13	0		n/a
September	40	21	12	0		n/a
October	33	16	9	1		n/a
November	24	10	7	2		n/a
December	17	6	6	3		n/a
= 0-5 mm ● = 6-30 mm ● = 31-60 mm ● = 61-100 mm ● = 101-200 mm ● = over 200 mm = 0-0.2 inches ● = 0.2-1.2 inches ● = 1.2-2.4 inches ● = 2.5-4 inches ● = 4.1-8 inches ● = over 8 inches

More climate information
Climate tables are useful but they don’t give an overall picture of the climate and possible weather conditions during a period of time. How high the chances are of hot or cold weather or hurricanes can often not be found in these tables. This is why we offer extra climate information per month. The figures below can are for the capital Baghdad. Please, visit the individual climate pages for climate records on other places in Iraq.

	chance of (very) hot weather	chance of (very) cool weather	chance of long-term precipitation	chance of hurricanes (cyclones)	chance of sunny days	UV-index
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
click here for the explanation of the symbols

Disclaimer
The information at this site was carefully composed from climate data collected by meteorological services, meteorological offices, climate experts and other sources. “More climate info” is based on statistics, climate data and personal experience. No rights can be derived from this site. Weather has no memory and gives no guaranties. Nothing is as changeable and unpredictable as the weather. The authors of this site feel in no way responsible for any damages caused by misinterpretation or other circumstances that may influence your holiday or trip to a certain destination. We provide information, it’s up to the reader to use it to it’s benefit.