Climate and average weather in Shīnḏanḏ

In Shīnḏanḏ, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are cool, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: early October to mid November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Shīnḏanḏ typically varies from -0°C to 39°C, and is rarely below -5°C or above 42°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 Shīnḏanḏ for warm-weather activities are from late March to late April and early October to mid November.

Hottest
Jul
39°
Coldest
Jan
-0°
Wettest
Mar
63 mm
Driest
Jul
0 mm
Rain / yr
237 mm
36 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,071 m
33.3°N
Clearest
Sep
1% cloud

Shīnḏanḏ is place in Herat Province, Afghanistan.

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

Shīnḏanḏ 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 early October to mid November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Shīnḏanḏ, 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 13 to September 25, with daily high temperatures above 32°C. The hottest month of the year in Shīnḏanḏ is July, with an average high of 39°C and low of 24°C.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from November 27 to March 4, with daily high temperatures below 16°C. The coldest month of the year in Shīnḏanḏ is January, with an average low of -0°C and high of 11°C.

Days typically run about 14°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 17°C) in September.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan110
Feb132
Mar196
Apr2611
May3217
Jun3721
Jul3924
Aug3822
Sep3417
Oct2711
Nov195
Dec141

How hot and cold Shīnḏanḏ 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, Shīnḏanḏ feels like about 39°C (around July 7). About 134 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -4°C (around January 14), with roughly 88 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)
Jan1111-40
Feb1313-22
Mar191936
Apr26261111
May32321617
Jun37372121
Jul39392424
Aug38382222
Sep33341717
Oct27271011
Nov191935
Dec1314-21

Average hourly temperature in Shīnḏanḏ

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 39°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -0°C.

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

Shīnḏanḏ 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° / -0°497.11103.1
Feb13° / 567.90.710.84.0
Mar19° / 638.2011.76.5
Apr26° / 11°284.3012.87.7
May32° / 17°30.9013.75.1
Jun37° / 21°00014.22.2
Jul39° / 24°000140.8
Aug38° / 22°00013.21.8
Sep34° / 17°00.1012.24.6
Oct27° / 11°20.6011.28.6
Nov19° / 142.8010.37.6
Dec14° / 224.10.39.84.7

Chance of rain

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

Shīnḏanḏ gets about 237 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 5.0 months, from around Nov 23 to Apr 24, peaking in February at about 29% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 9.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 63 mm over about 8 wet days; July is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetFeb 4 · 29%Jun 9 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan227
Feb288
Mar268
Apr154
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct21
Nov93
Dec144

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Shīnḏanḏ collects about 237 mm of rain across 36 wet days — roughly 20 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 63 mm, while July is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 71% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4956632830021422
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan4971
Feb5681
Mar6380
Apr2840
May310
Jun000
Jul000
Aug000
Sep000
Oct210
Nov1430
Dec2240

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Shīnḏanḏ, 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 14 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around November 9. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 100% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 10 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around May 13. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 35% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 23 · 100%Mar 17 · 63%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7228
Feb7030
Mar6535
Apr7228
May8614
Jun991
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct955
Nov8317
Dec7723

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 11, 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)
Jan10.07:305:31
Feb10.87:135:59
Mar11.76:396:23
Apr12.85:576:46
May13.75:267:09
Jun14.25:167:27
Jul14.05:277:27
Aug13.25:487:03
Sep12.26:106:22
Oct11.26:325:41
Nov10.36:595:14
Dec9.87:235:12

Sunny days

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

Shīnḏanḏ averages about 23 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 15 and 30 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around May 19 to Nov 6. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 30 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is March, down near 16 sunny days — about 47% fewer than the July peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1530 daysMar 1915 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan18Bright
Feb16Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr17Bright
May23Bright
Jun29Brilliant
Jul31Brilliant
Aug31Brilliant
Sep30Brilliant
Oct28Brilliant
Nov22Bright
Dec20Bright

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 Shīnḏanḏ, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in January, 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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Shīnḏanḏ is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around May 10 to Sep 24. The windiest month is July, averaging about 21 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 25 to May 9, with November the calmest month at about 9 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyJul 20 · 21 km/hNov 27 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb11calm
Mar11calm
Apr12calm
May14light breeze
Jun18light breeze
Jul21breezy
Aug19light breeze
Sep15light breeze
Oct11calm
Nov9calm
Dec9calm

Hazard calendar for Shīnḏanḏ

In seasonPeak

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

Shīnḏanḏ 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 Shīnḏanḏ

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 24 · 9.2

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
Jan3.1poor
Feb4.1fair
Mar6.5good
Apr7.6ideal
May5.1fair
Jun2.2poor
Jul0.9poor
Aug1.8poor
Sep4.6fair
Oct8.5ideal
Nov7.6ideal
Dec4.7fair

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 Shīnḏanḏ 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 first week of October.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 6 · 9.3

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 Shīnḏanḏ, 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 39°C), the essentials are light clothes, sun protection and a windbreaker. 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, Shīnḏanḏ sees daytime highs around 39°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: a windbreaker.

UV index (midday) in Shīnḏanḏ 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 Shīnḏanḏ peaks around July 11 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 11UV 12Dec 20UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb5High
Mar7High
Apr8Very high
May9Very high
Jun12Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Shīnḏanḏ

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 6.5 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)
Jan20
Feb50
Mar6.53
Apr74
May85.5
Jun8.56.5
Jul96.5
Aug85.5
Sep74.5
Oct5.50.5
Nov30
Dec00

Air quality in Shīnḏanḏ 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 Shīnḏanḏ is worst in July — around 49 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.7× the cleanest month (January, 18 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateJul 2449 µg/m³Jan 1018 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan18Moderate
Feb23Moderate
Mar28Moderate
Apr35Moderate
May38Poor
Jun37Poor
Jul49Poor
Aug49Poor
Sep46Poor
Oct34Moderate
Nov21Moderate
Dec18Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Shīnḏanḏ typically lasts about 340 days, from around January 26 to December 31 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from March 13 to November 18.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonJan 2650%Mar 1390%Nov 1890%Dec 3150%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan4731
Feb6428
Mar9212
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov9113
Dec6431

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. Shīnḏanḏ banks about 3,391 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
Feb0
Mar71
Apr254
May444
Jun567
Jul659
Aug613
Sep451
Oct267
Nov65
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.

Shīnḏanḏ receives about 5.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.2 and 8.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 24 to Sep 29. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.2 kWh/m² — roughly 60% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 168.2 kWhDec 183.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.4Moderate
Feb4.4Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr6.9Intense
May7.8Intense
Jun8.2Intense
Jul8.0Intense
Aug7.5Intense
Sep6.4Intense
Oct5.1Bright
Nov3.8Moderate
Dec3.2Moderate

Where is Shīnḏanḏ?

Shīnḏanḏ sits at 33.3°N, 62.1°E, 1,071 m above sea level, in Afghanistan. The nearest listed city is Kushk, 18 km away.

FarahHerātKarukhEslam QalehTāybādKhāshShahrak

Topography around Shīnḏanḏ

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Shīnḏanḏ has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 33 m around an average of 1,067 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 500 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,283 m.

The land around Shīnḏanḏ is covered by cropland (77%) and bare terrain (20%) within 3 km, bare terrain (75%) and cropland (24%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (94%) within 80 km.

3 km
33 m
16 km
500 m
80 km
2,283 m
shrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Kushk 18 km · Farah 103 km · Herāt 116 km · Karukh 137 km · Eslam Qaleh 181 km · Tāybād 204 km · Khāsh 206 km · Shahrak 219 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 Shīnḏanḏ (33.3029°, 62.1474°, elevation 1,071 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).