Kirkuk climate

Name: Kirkuk
Address: IQ

Kirkuk is warmest in July, with average highs of 43 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 3.6 °C. January is the wettest month (87 mm) and August the driest (0.1 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Kirkuk averages 463 mm of rain, 203 days above 25 °C and 10 days below freezing.

Iraq · population 1,031,000 · 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 43 °C
Coldest month January 3.6 °C
Driest month August 0 mm
Wettest month January 87 mm
Least cloud August 3 % cloud
Hottest on record July 49 °C
Coldest on record February -4.9 °C

What to expectKirkuk through the year

Kirkuk has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 13 °C in January to 43 °C in July, a swing of 28 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 203 days a year reach 25 °C, 168 of them reach 30 °C, 10 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 49 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 87 mm against 0 mm in August — 704 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	12.7 °C	87 mm	47 %
February	14.5 °C	74 mm	45 %
March	19.3 °C	75 mm	44 %
April	25.8 °C	50 mm	40 %
May	32.9 °C	15 mm	28 %
June	39.2 °C	1 mm	6 %
July	42.5 °C	under 1 mm	3 %
August	42.2 °C	under 1 mm	3 %
September	37.4 °C	1 mm	4 %
October	30.5 °C	30 mm	25 %
November	20.6 °C	54 mm	36 %
December	14.8 °C	77 mm	47 %

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	12.7 °C	3.6 °C	7.8 °C	22.2 °C	-4.3 °C	0	0	5
February	14.5 °C	4.4 °C	9.3 °C	24.1 °C	-4.9 °C	0	0	3
March	19.3 °C	7.9 °C	13.7 °C	35.1 °C	-1.9 °C	3	0	0
April	25.8 °C	13.1 °C	19.7 °C	40.1 °C	1.9 °C	16	6	0
May	32.9 °C	19.1 °C	26.6 °C	42.9 °C	10.3 °C	30	23	0
June	39.2 °C	24.4 °C	32.6 °C	46.2 °C	17.0 °C	30	30	0
July	42.5 °C	27.8 °C	35.9 °C	49.0 °C	20.2 °C	31	31	0
August	42.2 °C	27.3 °C	35.5 °C	48.4 °C	21.1 °C	31	31	0
September	37.4 °C	22.9 °C	30.7 °C	45.5 °C	11.6 °C	30	30	0
October	30.5 °C	17.8 °C	24.2 °C	39.5 °C	7.5 °C	28	18	0
November	20.6 °C	10.0 °C	15.0 °C	31.5 °C	-1.0 °C	4	0	0
December	14.8 °C	5.5 °C	9.7 °C	28.6 °C	-4.2 °C	0	0	2

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	87 mm	10	10 h/day	47 %	71 %	14 km/h
February	74 mm	9	11 h/day	45 %	68 %	15 km/h
March	75 mm	9	12 h/day	44 %	60 %	16 km/h
April	50 mm	7	13 h/day	40 %	48 %	17 km/h
May	15 mm	3	14 h/day	28 %	31 %	18 km/h
June	1 mm	0	15 h/day	6 %	19 %	18 km/h
July	under 1 mm	0	14 h/day	3 %	17 %	18 km/h
August	under 1 mm	0	14 h/day	3 %	17 %	18 km/h
September	1 mm	0	12 h/day	4 %	21 %	17 km/h
October	30 mm	3	11 h/day	25 %	33 %	16 km/h
November	54 mm	6	10 h/day	36 %	55 %	14 km/h
December	77 mm	9	9.8 h/day	47 %	67 %	13 km/h

How Kirkuk 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
Kirkuk	43 °C	3.6 °C	463 mm	203
Erbil · Iraq	41 °C	1.3 °C	536 mm	191
Sulaymaniyah · Iraq	39 °C	-1.4 °C	712 mm	172
Bayjī · Iraq	44 °C	4.1 °C	207 mm	219
Ash Sharqāt · Iraq	43 °C	3.2 °C	234 mm	209
Kelar · Iraq	44 °C	4.5 °C	487 mm	214
Sāmarrā’ · Iraq	44 °C	4.4 °C	180 mm	227

Where Kirkuk ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The warmest places in Asia in July	29th of 50	43 °C
The warmest places in the world in July	30th of 50	43 °C
The warmest places in Asia in August	31st of 50	42 °C
The warmest places in the world in August	31st of 50	42 °C
The warmest places in Asia in September	45th of 50	37 °C
Places with the best weather in Asia in November	50th of 50	95/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Kirkuk’s climate

When is the best time to visit Kirkuk?

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

How hot does Kirkuk get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 43 °C. About 168 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 49 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 3.6 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 10 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Kirkuk?

January, averaging 87 mm over 10 days with rain. The driest month is August with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 463 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 Kirkuk 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: 35.468°, 44.392° (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.