Sulaymaniyah climate

Name: Sulaymaniyah
Address: IQ

Sulaymaniyah is warmest in August, with average highs of 39 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -1.4 °C. January is the wettest month (128 mm) and August the driest (0.1 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Sulaymaniyah averages 712 mm of rain, 172 days above 25 °C and 57 days below freezing.

Iraq · population 878,146 · 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 39 °C
Coldest month January -1.4 °C
Driest month August 0 mm
Wettest month January 128 mm
Least cloud August 4 % cloud
Hottest on record August 45 °C
Coldest on record February -22 °C

What to expectSulaymaniyah through the year

Sulaymaniyah has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 9.0 °C in January to 39 °C in August, a swing of 28 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 172 days a year reach 25 °C, 133 of them reach 30 °C, 57 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 45 °C, in August.

Rain is strongly seasonal. January averages 128 mm against 0 mm in August — 1,281 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	9.0 °C	128 mm	53 %
February	10.6 °C	127 mm	52 %
March	15.4 °C	117 mm	50 %
April	21.0 °C	84 mm	45 %
May	27.6 °C	27 mm	30 %
June	34.7 °C	1 mm	7 %
July	39.0 °C	under 1 mm	4 %
August	39.0 °C	under 1 mm	4 %
September	34.0 °C	1 mm	5 %
October	26.9 °C	38 mm	26 %
November	17.1 °C	83 mm	40 %
December	11.4 °C	106 mm	51 %

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	9.0 °C	-1.4 °C	3.7 °C	19.3 °C	-19.3 °C	0	0	19
February	10.6 °C	-0.6 °C	5.1 °C	20.6 °C	-22.2 °C	0	0	16
March	15.4 °C	3.1 °C	9.7 °C	27.9 °C	-10.6 °C	0	0	5
April	21.0 °C	7.7 °C	15.0 °C	33.6 °C	-3.2 °C	5	0	0
May	27.6 °C	12.7 °C	21.0 °C	38.5 °C	5.1 °C	23	9	0
June	34.7 °C	18.3 °C	27.6 °C	42.3 °C	11.4 °C	30	28	0
July	39.0 °C	22.3 °C	31.7 °C	44.6 °C	15.5 °C	31	31	0
August	39.0 °C	22.3 °C	31.6 °C	44.7 °C	17.2 °C	31	31	0
September	34.0 °C	17.8 °C	26.7 °C	41.4 °C	9.0 °C	30	27	0
October	26.9 °C	12.4 °C	19.9 °C	35.5 °C	4.1 °C	22	7	0
November	17.1 °C	5.0 °C	11.0 °C	26.8 °C	-8.7 °C	0	0	3
December	11.4 °C	0.7 °C	5.8 °C	24.3 °C	-15.2 °C	0	0	14

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	128 mm	12	10 h/day	53 %	74 %	8.9 km/h
February	127 mm	12	11 h/day	52 %	73 %	10 km/h
March	117 mm	11	12 h/day	50 %	68 %	11 km/h
April	84 mm	9	13 h/day	45 %	62 %	12 km/h
May	27 mm	5	14 h/day	30 %	48 %	13 km/h
June	1 mm	0	15 h/day	7 %	29 %	13 km/h
July	under 1 mm	0	14 h/day	4 %	23 %	13 km/h
August	under 1 mm	0	14 h/day	4 %	21 %	13 km/h
September	1 mm	0	12 h/day	5 %	25 %	12 km/h
October	38 mm	3	11 h/day	26 %	39 %	11 km/h
November	83 mm	8	10 h/day	40 %	62 %	9.1 km/h
December	106 mm	10	9.8 h/day	51 %	72 %	8.4 km/h

How Sulaymaniyah 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
Sulaymaniyah	39 °C	-1.4 °C	712 mm	172
Kirkuk · Iraq	43 °C	3.6 °C	463 mm	203
Kelar · Iraq	44 °C	4.5 °C	487 mm	214
Saqqez · Iran	34 °C	-6.8 °C	413 mm	130
Būkān · Iran	35 °C	-5.1 °C	324 mm	141
Piranshahr · Iran	33 °C	-6.5 °C	663 mm	123
Khānaqīn · Iraq	44 °C	4.5 °C	402 mm	218

Where Sulaymaniyah ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The driest places in Asia in August	43rd of 50	0.1 mm
The driest places in Asia in July	48th of 50	0.1 mm

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Sulaymaniyah’s climate

When is the best time to visit Sulaymaniyah?

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

How hot does Sulaymaniyah get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 39 °C. About 133 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 -1.4 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 57 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Sulaymaniyah?

January, averaging 128 mm over 12 days with rain. The driest month is August with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 712 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 Sulaymaniyah 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: 35.565°, 45.433° (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.