Karbala climate

Name: Karbala
Address: IQ

Karbala is warmest in August, with average highs of 44 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 6.0 °C. January is the wettest month (21 mm) and July the driest (0.01 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Karbala averages 105 mm of rain, 233 days above 25 °C and 1 days below freezing.

Iraq · population 1,218,732 · 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 August 44 °C
Coldest month January 6.0 °C
Driest month July 0 mm
Wettest month January 21 mm
Least cloud July 1 % cloud
Hottest on record August 51 °C
Coldest on record January -1.8 °C

What to expectKarbala through the year

Karbala has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 16 °C in January to 44 °C in August, a swing of 26 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 233 days a year reach 25 °C, 196 of them reach 30 °C, 1 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 51 °C, in August.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 0 mm in July to 21 mm in January. There is no dry season to aim for.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	15.5 °C	21 mm	35 %
February	18.5 °C	17 mm	30 %
March	24.2 °C	13 mm	29 %
April	30.6 °C	11 mm	29 %
May	36.9 °C	3 mm	23 %
June	41.3 °C	under 1 mm	3 %
July	43.6 °C	under 1 mm	1 %
August	43.6 °C	under 1 mm	2 %
September	39.8 °C	under 1 mm	3 %
October	33.4 °C	4 mm	19 %
November	23.2 °C	19 mm	31 %
December	17.1 °C	17 mm	36 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	15.5 °C	6.0 °C	10.6 °C	27.0 °C	-1.8 °C	0	0
February	18.5 °C	7.5 °C	13.0 °C	31.1 °C	-1.2 °C	1	0
March	24.2 °C	11.8 °C	18.2 °C	40.7 °C	1.5 °C	12	3
April	30.6 °C	17.2 °C	24.4 °C	43.3 °C	4.9 °C	27	16
May	36.9 °C	23.1 °C	30.6 °C	46.7 °C	13.9 °C	31	29
June	41.3 °C	27.6 °C	34.8 °C	49.3 °C	20.8 °C	30	30
July	43.6 °C	29.9 °C	37.0 °C	50.8 °C	23.6 °C	31	31
August	43.6 °C	29.5 °C	36.9 °C	50.9 °C	22.2 °C	31	31
September	39.8 °C	25.6 °C	33.0 °C	48.2 °C	17.1 °C	30	30
October	33.4 °C	20.3 °C	26.9 °C	43.4 °C	11.6 °C	30	25
November	23.2 °C	12.5 °C	17.8 °C	35.4 °C	1.8 °C	10	1
December	17.1 °C	7.7 °C	12.2 °C	27.7 °C	-0.8 °C	1	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	21 mm	4	10 h/day	35 %	69 %	17 km/h
February	17 mm	3	11 h/day	30 %	58 %	19 km/h
March	13 mm	2	12 h/day	29 %	44 %	21 km/h
April	11 mm	2	13 h/day	29 %	35 %	21 km/h
May	3 mm	1	14 h/day	23 %	25 %	22 km/h
June	under 1 mm	0	14 h/day	3 %	21 %	24 km/h
July	under 1 mm	0	14 h/day	1 %	21 %	25 km/h
August	under 1 mm	0	13 h/day	2 %	23 %	23 km/h
September	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	3 %	27 %	19 km/h
October	4 mm	1	11 h/day	19 %	36 %	17 km/h
November	19 mm	3	10 h/day	31 %	57 %	16 km/h
December	17 mm	3	10 h/day	36 %	68 %	16 km/h

How Karbala 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
Karbala	44 °C	6.0 °C	105 mm	233
Al Hillah · Iraq	45 °C	6.1 °C	112 mm	242
Najaf · Iraq	44 °C	5.0 °C	93 mm	239
Baghdad · Iraq	45 °C	5.9 °C	150 mm	237
Al Diwaniyah · Iraq	46 °C	6.1 °C	107 mm	247
Ramadi · Iraq	43 °C	5.1 °C	117 mm	227
Baqubah · Iraq	45 °C	5.6 °C	188 mm	233

Where Karbala ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The driest places in Asia in August	4th of 50	0.01 mm
Places with the best weather in Asia in November	7th of 50	98/100
Places with the best weather in the world in November	9th of 50	98/100
Places with the best weather in Asia in March	11th of 50	94/100
The driest places in Asia in June	12th of 50	0.02 mm
The driest places in Asia in July	15th of 50	0.01 mm

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Karbala’s climate

When is the best time to visit Karbala?

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

How hot does Karbala get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 44 °C. About 196 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 51 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 6.0 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 1 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Karbala?

January, averaging 21 mm over 4 days with rain. The driest month is July with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 105 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 Karbala 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
Data point: 32.616°, 44.025° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
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.