Climate and average weather in Qarqīn

In Qarqīn, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are cool, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: late September to mid November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Qarqīn typically varies from 2°C to 40°C, and is rarely below -4°C or above 44°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 Qarqīn for warm-weather activities are from early April to mid April and late September to mid November.

Hottest
Jul
40°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Mar
46 mm
Driest
Aug
0 mm
Rain / yr
216 mm
42 wet days
Daylight
9.4–14.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
263 m
37.4°N
Clearest
Aug
3% cloud

Qarqīn is human settlement in Afghanistan.

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

Qarqīn 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 September to mid November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.1 months, from May 15 to September 17, with daily high temperatures above 32°C. The hottest month of the year in Qarqīn is July, with an average high of 40°C and low of 24°C.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 21 to March 2, with daily high temperatures below 16°C. The coldest month of the year in Qarqīn is January, with an average low of 2°C and high of 11°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 16°C) in August.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan112
Feb134
Mar198
Apr2614
May3319
Jun3823
Jul4024
Aug3822
Sep3317
Oct2512
Nov187
Dec123

How hot and cold Qarqīn 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 hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Qarqīn feels like about 40°C (around July 8). About 130 days a year carry some heat stress, and 44 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -2°C (around January 14), with roughly 65 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan1011-12
Feb131304
Mar191968
Apr26261414
May33331919
Jun38382323
Jul40402424
Aug38382222
Sep33331717
Oct25251112
Nov171847
Dec121203

Average hourly temperature in Qarqīn

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 40°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Qarqīn 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
Jan11° / 286.61.69.72.7
Feb13° / 417.41.310.63.8
Mar19° / 468.20.311.76.3
Apr26° / 14°345.6012.97.2
May33° / 19°173.40144.5
Jun38° / 23°20.6014.51.4
Jul40° / 24°10.1014.30.3
Aug38° / 22°00013.41.6
Sep33° / 17°00.1012.35.2
Oct25° / 12°410118.8
Nov18° / 204.10.2106.5
Dec12° / 244.80.99.53.6

Chance of rain

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

Qarqīn gets about 216 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.1 months, from around Nov 12 to May 15, peaking in February at about 27% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 29.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 46 mm over about 8 wet days; August is the driest, with 0 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetFeb 5 · 27%Jun 29 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan217
Feb267
Mar268
Apr196
May113
Jun21
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct41
Nov134
Dec165

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Qarqīn collects about 216 mm of rain across 42 wet days — roughly 18 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 46 mm, while August is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 56% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2841463417210042024
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan2872
Feb4171
Mar4680
Apr3460
May1730
Jun210
Jul100
Aug000
Sep000
Oct410
Nov2040
Dec2451

Snow in Qarqīn

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.

Qarqīn averages about 4 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 29 to Mar 12 — about 3.4 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 1.3 day of snow and an estimated 5 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 16 cm of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonFeb 2
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan24
Feb15
Mar02
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec14

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Qarqīn, 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 10 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around October 30. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 100% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 31 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around May 9. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 55% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 1 · 100%Jan 31 · 44%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4852
Feb4555
Mar4852
Apr5743
May7822
Jun964
Jul991
Aug1000
Sep982
Oct8614
Nov6238
Dec5446

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 14, brings about 14 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 9 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.77:255:06
Feb10.67:035:37
Mar11.76:246:07
Apr12.95:376:35
May14.05:027:02
Jun14.54:497:23
Jul14.35:017:22
Aug13.45:266:53
Sep12.35:536:07
Oct11.06:205:21
Nov10.06:524:50
Dec9.57:194:45

Sunny days

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

Qarqīn averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 10 and 30 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.5 months, from around May 17 to Oct 31. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 30 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 10 sunny days — about 66% fewer than the August peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1830 daysFeb 2110 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May19Bright
Jun27Brilliant
Jul30Brilliant
Aug31Brilliant
Sep29Brilliant
Oct25Brilliant
Nov16Bright
Dec13Mixed

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 Qarqīn, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in May, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 2% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar9910
Apr9091
May85132
Jun9371
Jul86131
Aug9091
Sep9910
Oct10000
Nov10000
Dec10000

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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Qarqīn is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around Dec 17 to May 1. The windiest month is February, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 25 to Dec 16, with September the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezeFeb 8 · 13 km/hSep 9 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12light breeze
Feb13light breeze
Mar13light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May11calm
Jun11calm
Jul12calm
Aug10calm
Sep9calm
Oct10calm
Nov11calm
Dec11calm

Hazard calendar for Qarqīn

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Qarqīn sees seasonal dust haze (May), heaviest in May.

Dust
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Qarqīn

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early November, Qarqīn 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 Qarqīn for general outdoor tourist activities run from early April to mid April and again from late September to mid November, with a peak score in the third week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 18 · 9.1

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
Jan2.8poor
Feb3.9fair
Mar6.2good
Apr7.1good
May4.5fair
Jun1.5poor
Jul0.3poor
Aug1.6poor
Sep5.2fair
Oct8.7ideal
Nov6.5good
Dec3.6fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Qarqīn for hot-weather activities run from mid April to late May and again from early September to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 30 · 9.2

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 Qarqīn, 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 40°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 11°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Qarqīn sees daytime highs around 40°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Qarqīn 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 Qarqīn peaks around June 19 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highModerateJun 19UV 9Jan 10UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb4Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr6High
May9Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep7Very high
Oct4Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Qarqīn

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 June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5.5 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)
Jan00
Feb3.50
Mar50
Apr6.51.5
May85
Jun8.55.5
Jul85
Aug7.54
Sep6.53.5
Oct40
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Qarqīn 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 Qarqīn is worst in April — around 34 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateApr 1534 µg/m³Jan 1622 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan22Moderate
Feb23Moderate
Mar32Moderate
Apr34Moderate
May31Moderate
Jun25Moderate
Jul26Moderate
Aug24Moderate
Sep27Moderate
Oct26Moderate
Nov25Moderate
Dec23Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Qarqīn is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 4 to November 21 (263 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 490%Nov 2190%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan6831
Feb7728
Mar952
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov938
Dec7631

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. Qarqīn banks about 3,588 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb1
Mar111
Apr303
May489
Jun611
Jul682
Aug618
Sep444
Oct264
Nov66
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.

Qarqīn receives about 5.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.3 and 7.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 29 to Sep 29. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 70% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 27.9 kWhDec 182.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.5Moderate
Feb3.4Moderate
Mar4.6Bright
Apr6.0Intense
May7.1Intense
Jun7.8Intense
Jul7.8Intense
Aug7.1Intense
Sep5.9Bright
Oct4.3Bright
Nov2.9Moderate
Dec2.3Moderate

Where is Qarqīn?

Qarqīn sits at 37.4°N, 66.0°E, 263 m above sea level, in Afghanistan. The nearest listed city is Magdanly, 44 km away.

KerkiShibirghānAndkhoyBalkhTermezMazār-e SharīfHalaç

Topography around Qarqīn

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Qarqīn has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 11 m around an average of 263 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 195 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,880 m.

The land around Qarqīn is covered by cropland (42%), water (22%) and bare terrain (21%) within 3 km, bare terrain (53%) and cropland (29%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (50%) and grassland (30%) within 80 km.

3 km
11 m
16 km
195 m
80 km
2,880 m
shrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Magdanly 44 km · Kerki 87 km · Shibirghān 87 km · Andkhoy 97 km · Balkh 106 km · Termez 111 km · Mazār-e Sharīf 123 km · Halaç 126 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 Qarqīn (37.4185°, 66.0436°, elevation 263 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).