Kandahār climate

Name: Kandahār
Address: AF

Kandahār is warmest in July, with average highs of 40 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -0.1 °C. February is the wettest month (50 mm) and September the driest (0.01 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Kandahār averages 190 mm of rain, 207 days above 25 °C and 43 days below freezing.

Afghanistan · population 523,300 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month July 40 °C
Coldest month January -0.1 °C
Driest month September 0 mm
Wettest month February 50 mm
Least cloud September 1 % cloud
Hottest on record June 45 °C
Coldest on record January -9.2 °C

What to expectKandahār through the year

Kandahār has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 12 °C in January to 40 °C in July, a swing of 27 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 207 days a year reach 25 °C, 166 of them reach 30 °C, 43 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 45 °C, in June.

Rain is strongly seasonal. February averages 50 mm against 0 mm in September — 3,782 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	12.3 °C	43 mm	35 %
February	14.7 °C	50 mm	37 %
March	20.6 °C	46 mm	38 %
April	28.1 °C	13 mm	30 %
May	34.6 °C	1 mm	16 %
June	38.8 °C	2 mm	4 %
July	40.1 °C	2 mm	5 %
August	38.4 °C	under 1 mm	6 %
September	33.9 °C	under 1 mm	1 %
October	27.4 °C	1 mm	5 %
November	20.2 °C	9 mm	19 %
December	14.8 °C	22 mm	25 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	12.3 °C	-0.1 °C	6.0 °C	22.2 °C	-9.2 °C	0	0	17
February	14.7 °C	1.7 °C	8.2 °C	27.3 °C	-7.1 °C	0	0	10
March	20.6 °C	6.3 °C	13.7 °C	34.6 °C	-4.8 °C	6	1	2
April	28.1 °C	12.0 °C	20.7 °C	37.6 °C	1.2 °C	23	11	0
May	34.6 °C	17.7 °C	27.2 °C	42.5 °C	8.3 °C	31	28	0
June	38.8 °C	21.5 °C	31.3 °C	44.5 °C	12.4 °C	30	30	0
July	40.1 °C	23.5 °C	32.8 °C	44.1 °C	17.1 °C	31	31	0
August	38.4 °C	21.8 °C	31.0 °C	44.2 °C	16.5 °C	31	31	0
September	33.9 °C	16.4 °C	25.9 °C	41.4 °C	7.6 °C	30	27	0
October	27.4 °C	10.6 °C	19.5 °C	35.8 °C	3.2 °C	22	8	0
November	20.2 °C	5.2 °C	12.8 °C	29.3 °C	-3.9 °C	3	0	2
December	14.8 °C	1.1 °C	7.8 °C	23.8 °C	-6.5 °C	0	0	12

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	43 mm	5	10 h/day	35 %	58 %	13 km/h
February	50 mm	6	11 h/day	37 %	58 %	15 km/h
March	46 mm	6	12 h/day	38 %	50 %	16 km/h
April	13 mm	3	13 h/day	30 %	34 %	17 km/h
May	1 mm	0	14 h/day	16 %	17 %	20 km/h
June	2 mm	0	14 h/day	4 %	13 %	18 km/h
July	2 mm	0	14 h/day	5 %	16 %	16 km/h
August	under 1 mm	0	13 h/day	6 %	15 %	16 km/h
September	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	1 %	15 %	15 km/h
October	1 mm	0	11 h/day	5 %	22 %	14 km/h
November	9 mm	2	11 h/day	19 %	40 %	11 km/h
December	22 mm	2	10 h/day	25 %	51 %	11 km/h

How Kandahār compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Kandahār	40 °C	-0.1 °C	190 mm	207
Quetta · Pakistan	34 °C	0.9 °C	287 mm	173
Khuzdar · Pakistan	37 °C	2.1 °C	161 mm	234
Garhi Khairo · Pakistan	44 °C	8.9 °C	181 mm	299
Herāt · Afghanistan	35 °C	-2.1 °C	268 mm	177
Jacobabad · Pakistan	43 °C	9.0 °C	172 mm	297
Kabul · Afghanistan	33 °C	-9.1 °C	389 mm	135

Where Kandahār ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The driest places in Asia in September	4thof 50	0.01 mm
The warmest places in Africa in July	5thof 50	40 °C
The driest places in Africa in September	9thof 50	0.01 mm
The warmest places in Africa in August	10thof 50	38 °C
The warmest places in Africa in June	11thof 50	39 °C
The driest places in the world in September	12thof 50	0.01 mm

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Kandahār.

QuestionsCommon questions about Kandahār’s climate

When is the best time to visit Kandahār?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. April, September, October sit closest to 20 °C on average, July is the warmest month and September the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Kandahār get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 40 °C. About 166 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 45 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -0.1 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 43 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Kandahār?

February, averaging 50 mm over 6 days with rain. The driest month is September with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 190 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Kandahār rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.