Climate and average weather in Nīlī

In Nīlī, the summers are hot, dry, and clear and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: late August to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nīlī typically varies from -13°C to 30°C, and is rarely below -21°C or above 33°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Nīlī for warm-weather activities are from mid May to late June and late August to mid October.

Hottest
Jul
30°
Coldest
Jan
-13°
Wettest
Mar
106 mm
Driest
Sep
1 mm
Rain / yr
466 mm
63 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2,022 m
33.7°N
Clearest
Sep
8% cloud

Nīlī is capital of Daykundi, Afghanistan.

Founded
2004

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Nīlī weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late August to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Nīlī, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.5 months, from May 18 to October 1, with daily high temperatures above 22°C. The hottest month of the year in Nīlī is July, with an average high of 30°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 3.1 months, from December 9 to March 13, with daily high temperatures below 3°C. The coldest month of the year in Nīlī is January, with an average low of -13°C and high of -3°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in June.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-3-13
Feb-3-11
Mar4-5
Apr131
May228
Jun2713
Jul3016
Aug2916
Sep2511
Oct185
Nov10-2
Dec1-10

How hot and cold Nīlī really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -17°C (around January 20), with roughly 159 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 95 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-3-3-16-13
Feb-3-3-15-11
Mar34-8-5
Apr131301
May212278
Jun27271313
Jul30301616
Aug29291516
Sep25251111
Oct181855
Nov1010-3-2
Dec11-13-10

Average hourly temperature in Nīlī

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -13°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Nīlī weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan-3° / -13°728.69.2100.0
Feb-3° / -11°919.49.710.70.0
Mar / -6°10611.89.111.70.2
Apr13° / 6810.72.412.83.7
May22° / 297013.77.5
Jun27° / 13°41.3014.28.3
Jul30° / 16°20.20146.7
Aug29° / 16°10.2013.37.3
Sep25° / 11°10.1012.29.3
Oct18° / 91.70.111.27.6
Nov10° / -2°375.53.510.32.5
Dec / -10°476.76.69.80.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Nīlī gets about 466 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.3 months, from around Nov 10 to May 21, peaking in March at about 39% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 22.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 106 mm over about 12 wet days; September is the driest, with 1 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMar 22 · 39%Aug 22 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan279
Feb349
Mar3712
Apr3611
May227
Jun41
Jul10
Aug00
Sep00
Oct62
Nov186
Dec227

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nīlī collects about 466 mm of rain across 63 wet days — roughly 39 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 106 mm, while September is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 58% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec72911066829421193747
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan7299
Feb91910
Mar106129
Apr68112
May2970
Jun410
Jul200
Aug100
Sep100
Oct920
Nov3764
Dec4777

Snow in Nīlī

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Nīlī averages about 41 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 26 to Apr 26 — about 6 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 10 days of snow and an estimated 89 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 296 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 6
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan969
Feb1089
Mar969
Apr29
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov416
Dec743

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Nīlī, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 15 and lasts for 5.8 months, ending around November 7. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 99% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 8 and lasts for 6.2 months, ending around May 14. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 44% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 30 · 100%Mar 19 · 53%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6139
Feb5644
Mar5644
Apr6040
May7822
Jun955
Jul982
Aug982
Sep991
Oct928
Nov7525
Dec6832

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 7, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.07:155:14
Feb10.76:585:43
Mar11.76:236:07
Apr12.85:416:31
May13.75:096:54
Jun14.24:597:13
Jul14.05:107:12
Aug13.35:326:47
Sep12.25:546:06
Oct11.26:165:25
Nov10.36:444:57
Dec9.87:094:55

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Nīlī averages about 20 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 29 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.5 months, from around May 24 to Nov 7. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 28 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is March, down near 12 sunny days — about 56% fewer than the September peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 1029 daysMar 1712 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar13Mixed
Apr12Mixed
May18Bright
Jun24Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep28Brilliant
Oct25Brilliant
Nov19Bright
Dec17Bright

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Nīlī, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in June, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)
Jan100
Feb100
Mar100
Apr100
May100
Jun100
Jul100
Aug100
Sep100
Oct100
Nov100
Dec100

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Nīlī is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJul 2 · 6 km/hOct 29 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb5calm
Mar5calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct4calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Nīlī

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Nīlī throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early October, Nīlī is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Nīlī for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid May to late June and again from late August to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 20 · 9.5

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.3poor
Apr3.6fair
May7.5good
Jun8.2ideal
Jul6.7good
Aug7.3good
Sep9.3ideal
Oct7.6ideal
Nov2.6poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Nīlī for hot-weather activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 22 · 9.5

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Nīlī, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 30°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -3°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Nīlī sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 16°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Nīlī by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Nīlī peaks around July 14 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highExtremeVery highModerateJul 14UV 13Dec 19UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb6High
Mar9Very high
Apr8Very high
May10Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep10Extreme
Oct7High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Nīlī

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan30
Feb5.51
Mar74.5
Apr7.54.5
May8.56
Jun96.5
Jul97
Aug8.56
Sep7.55.5
Oct62.5
Nov3.50
Dec1.50

Air quality in Nīlī by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Nīlī is worst in May — around 19 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.2× the cleanest month (December, 6 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodMay 1419 µg/m³Dec 156 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb11Good
Mar14Moderate
Apr17Moderate
May19Moderate
Jun15Moderate
Jul19Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep14Moderate
Oct9Good
Nov7Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Nīlī typically lasts about 212 days, from around April 11 to November 8 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 30 to October 23.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1310%Apr 1150%Apr 3090%Oct 2390%Nov 850%Dec 310%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan131
Feb328
Mar1431
Apr6129
May980
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct948
Nov3730
Dec531

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Nīlī banks about 1,552 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr3
May146
Jun306
Jul411
Aug385
Sep244
Oct56
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Nīlī receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.3 and 8.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 27. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.4 kWh/m² — roughly 59% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 158.3 kWhDec 153.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.7Moderate
Feb4.7Bright
Mar5.9Bright
Apr6.9Intense
May7.8Intense
Jun8.3Intense
Jul8.1Intense
Aug7.5Intense
Sep6.5Intense
Oct5.1Bright
Nov3.8Moderate
Dec3.4Moderate

Where is Nīlī?

Nīlī sits at 33.7°N, 66.1°E, 2,022 m above sea level, in Afghanistan. The nearest listed city is Bāzār-e Yakāwlang, 137 km away.

Bāzār-e YakāwlangShahrakBāmyānGhazniKandahārSang-e ChārakGereshkBaraki Barak

Topography around Nīlī

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Nīlī.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nīlī has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,068 m around an average of 2,214 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,443 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,077 m.

The land around Nīlī is covered by bare terrain (62%) within 3 km, bare terrain (65%) and grassland (30%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (55%) and grassland (42%) within 80 km.

3 km
1,068 m
16 km
2,443 m
80 km
3,077 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Bāzār-e Yakāwlang 137 km · Shahrak 174 km · Bāmyān 198 km · Ghazni 213 km · Kandahār 238 km · Sang-e Chārak 238 km · Gereshk 257 km · Baraki Barak 262 km

Afghanistan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 17% of US
price level, 2024
GDP per capita
$417
2024
Happiness
1.4 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
31%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
4
per 100k, 2021
Road deaths
15.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 446
Religion
Muslim 100%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Nīlī (33.7218°, 66.1302°, elevation 2,022 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).