Zaranj weather in December

In December, Zaranj sees average daytime highs of 17°C and overnight lows near 4°C, with 7 mm of rain across 1.5 wet days and about 10 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 4th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 19°C in the first days to 16°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 74% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 06 min at the start of December to 10 hours by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Zaranj's 8th-clearest and 12th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Zaranj's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 17°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 4°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 7 mm; 1.5 wet days
Daylight: 10 hours; 7:19 AM – 5:19 PM
Cloud cover: 24%; 8th clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 12th windiest
Solar energy: 3.57 kWh/m²
Travel score: 7.3; out of 10

Zaranj is city in Afghanistan.

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

← November Zaranj year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

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

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs ease over the month, from about 19°C in the first days to 16°C by the end.

A typical December day in Zaranj reaches about 17°C in the afternoon and slips back to 4°C overnight — a 14°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 12°C and 22°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs about 6°C cooler than November and about 2°C warmer than January.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Avg low (°C)	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	5
2	19	5
3	19	5
4	19	5
5	19	5
6	18	5
7	18	5
8	18	4
9	18	4
10	18	4
11	18	4
12	18	4
13	17	4
14	17	4
15	17	4
16	17	4
17	17	4
18	17	3
19	17	3
20	17	3
21	17	3
22	17	3
23	17	3
24	17	3
25	16	3
26	16	3
27	16	3
28	16	3
29	16	3
30	16	3
31	16	3

How December really feels in Zaranj

Once humidity and wind are folded in, December averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 4 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

The story in December is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Zaranj weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 11th-warmest and 4th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	16° / 3°	16	3.5	10.2	6.2
Feb	20° / 6°	11	2.6	10.9	7.8
Mar	26° / 12°	16	3	11.8	8.0
Apr	33° / 18°	4	1	12.7	4.5
May	39° / 24°	1	0.2	13.5	1.1
Jun	42° / 28°	0	0	14	0.0
Jul	44° / 30°	0	0	13.8	0.0
Aug	42° / 28°	0	0	13.1	0.0
Sep	38° / 22°	0	0	12.2	1.8
Oct	31° / 15°	0	0.1	11.2	6.2
Nov	23° / 9°	3	0.7	10.4	8.9
Dec	17° / 4°	7	1.5	10	7.3

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 74% of the time in December.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 9% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 18%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	85	85	85	84	84	83	83	82	81	81	81	81	81	82	82	82	82	82	83	83	83	83	83	83	84	83	82	82	81	81	79
Cloudier (%)	15	15	15	16	16	17	17	18	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	17	18	18	19	19	21

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	85	15
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	83	17
7	83	17
8	82	18
9	81	19
10	81	19
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	81	19
14	82	18
15	82	18
16	82	18
17	82	18
18	82	18
19	83	17
20	83	17
21	83	17
22	83	17
23	83	17
24	83	17
25	84	16
26	83	17
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	81	19
30	81	19
31	79	21

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Zaranj gets around 7 mm of rain over 1.5 wet days in December. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 5% and peaks near 7% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	6	7

	Rain chance (%)
1	4
2	4
3	4
4	5
5	5
6	5
7	5
8	5
9	5
10	6
11	6
12	6
13	6
14	5
15	5
16	5
17	5
18	5
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	4
25	5
26	5
27	5
28	6
29	6
30	6
31	7

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of December feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, December lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in December

Winds average 10 km/h in December, the calmest month.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 10 km/h on the calmest days to 10 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	10	calm
2	10	calm
3	10	calm
4	10	calm
5	10	calm
6	10	calm
7	10	calm
8	10	calm
9	10	calm
10	10	calm
11	10	calm
12	10	calm
13	10	calm
14	10	calm
15	10	calm
16	10	calm
17	10	calm
18	10	calm
19	10	calm
20	10	calm
21	10	calm
22	10	calm
23	10	calm
24	10	calm
25	10	calm
26	10	calm
27	10	calm
28	10	calm
29	10	calm
30	10	calm
31	10	calm

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 06 min at the start of December to 10 hours by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 6 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 7:08 AM to 7:25 AM, and sunset from 5:16 PM to 5:26 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0
Sunrise (AM)	7:08	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:11	7:12	7:13	7:13	7:14	7:15	7:16	7:16	7:17	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:19	7:20	7:20	7:21	7:21	7:22	7:22	7:23	7:23	7:24	7:24	7:24	7:25	7:25	7:25
Sunset (PM)	5:16	5:16	5:16	5:16	5:16	5:17	5:17	5:17	5:17	5:17	5:17	5:18	5:18	5:18	5:18	5:19	5:19	5:20	5:20	5:20	5:21	5:21	5:22	5:22	5:23	5:23	5:24	5:24	5:25	5:26	5:26

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.1	7:08	5:16
2	10.1	7:09	5:16
3	10.1	7:10	5:16
4	10.1	7:11	5:16
5	10.1	7:11	5:16
6	10.1	7:12	5:17
7	10.1	7:13	5:17
8	10.1	7:13	5:17
9	10.0	7:14	5:17
10	10.0	7:15	5:17
11	10.0	7:16	5:17
12	10.0	7:16	5:18
13	10.0	7:17	5:18
14	10.0	7:17	5:18
15	10.0	7:18	5:18
16	10.0	7:19	5:19
17	10.0	7:19	5:19
18	10.0	7:20	5:20
19	10.0	7:20	5:20
20	10.0	7:21	5:20
21	10.0	7:21	5:21
22	10.0	7:22	5:21
23	10.0	7:22	5:22
24	10.0	7:23	5:22
25	10.0	7:23	5:23
26	10.0	7:24	5:23
27	10.0	7:24	5:24
28	10.0	7:24	5:24
29	10.0	7:25	5:25
30	10.0	7:25	5:26
31	10.0	7:25	5:26

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 3.57 kWh/m² — the year's lowest.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.57 kWh/m² to a high of 8.08 kWh/m² in June across the year — December's 3.57 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	3.8	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	3.8	Moderate
2	3.7	Moderate
3	3.7	Moderate
4	3.7	Moderate
5	3.7	Moderate
6	3.6	Moderate
7	3.6	Moderate
8	3.6	Moderate
9	3.6	Moderate
10	3.6	Moderate
11	3.6	Moderate
12	3.6	Moderate
13	3.6	Moderate
14	3.6	Moderate
15	3.5	Moderate
16	3.5	Moderate
17	3.5	Moderate
18	3.5	Moderate
19	3.5	Moderate
20	3.5	Moderate
21	3.5	Moderate
22	3.5	Moderate
23	3.5	Moderate
24	3.5	Moderate
25	3.5	Moderate
26	3.5	Moderate
27	3.6	Moderate
28	3.6	Moderate
29	3.6	Moderate
30	3.6	Moderate
31	3.6	Moderate

Planning a trip in December

Hazard calendar for Zaranj

In seasonPeak

None of Zaranj's seasonal hazards are active in December. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Zaranj sees seasonal dust haze (April–September), heaviest in July.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is December a good time to visit Zaranj?

Our two travel scores rate December for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

7.3

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

2.0

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

December is one of the better times to visit Zaranj for general sightseeing.

What to pack for Zaranj in December

From December's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In December, Zaranj sees daytime highs around 17°C and nights near 4°C. Worth packing: a warm layer.

a warm layer

UV index in Zaranj in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 3. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Zaranj peaks around June 17 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 3 (moderate).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	4	6	8	8	9	10	9	10	8	7	4	3
Level	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	4	Moderate
Feb	6	High
Mar	8	Very high
Apr	8	Very high
May	9	Very high
Jun	10	Extreme
Jul	9	Very high
Aug	10	Extreme
Sep	8	Very high
Oct	7	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Zaranj in December

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where December falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Zaranj is worst in August — around 126 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 3.8× the cleanest month (December, 33 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	34	38	40	52	61	83	120	126	93	58	35	33
Level	Moderate	Poor	Poor	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	34	Moderate
Feb	38	Poor
Mar	40	Poor
Apr	52	Poor
May	61	Unhealthy
Jun	83	Unhealthy
Jul	120	Unhealthy
Aug	126	Unhealthy
Sep	93	Unhealthy
Oct	58	Unhealthy
Nov	35	Poor
Dec	33	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Zaranj?

Zaranj sits at 31.0°N, 61.9°E, 489 m above sea level, in Afghanistan. The nearest listed city is Zābol, 36 km away.

Topography around Zaranj

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Zaranj has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 10 m around an average of 487 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 25 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 313 m.

The land around Zaranj is covered by artificial surfaces (42%), bare terrain (33%) and cropland (24%) within 3 km, bare terrain (65%) and cropland (33%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (89%) within 80 km.

3 km

10 m

artificial surfaces 42%

16 km

25 m

bare terrain 65%

80 km

313 m

bare terrain 89%

shrubscroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwetland

← November Zaranj year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

December weather nearby: Zābol 36 km · Khāsh 109 km · Farah 159 km · Nehbandān 185 km · Zahedan 189 km · Khān Neshīn 190 km · Lashkar Gāh 249 km · Kushk 260 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

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 Zaranj (30.9596°, 61.8604°, elevation 489 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	5
2	19	5
3	19	5
4	19	5
5	19	5
6	18	5
7	18	5
8	18	4
9	18	4
10	18	4
11	18	4
12	18	4
13	17	4
14	17	4
15	17	4
16	17	4
17	17	4
18	17	3
19	17	3
20	17	3
21	17	3
22	17	3
23	17	3
24	17	3
25	16	3
26	16	3
27	16	3
28	16	3
29	16	3
30	16	3
31	16	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	85	15
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	83	17
7	83	17
8	82	18
9	81	19
10	81	19
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	81	19
14	82	18
15	82	18
16	82	18
17	82	18
18	82	18
19	83	17
20	83	17
21	83	17
22	83	17
23	83	17
24	83	17
25	84	16
26	83	17
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	81	19
30	81	19
31	79	21

	Rain chance (%)
1	4
2	4
3	4
4	5
5	5
6	5
7	5
8	5
9	5
10	6
11	6
12	6
13	6
14	5
15	5
16	5
17	5
18	5
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	4
25	5
26	5
27	5
28	6
29	6
30	6
31	7

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	5
2	19	5
3	19	5
4	19	5
5	19	5
6	18	5
7	18	5
8	18	4
9	18	4
10	18	4
11	18	4
12	18	4
13	17	4
14	17	4
15	17	4
16	17	4
17	17	4
18	17	3
19	17	3
20	17	3
21	17	3
22	17	3
23	17	3
24	17	3
25	16	3
26	16	3
27	16	3
28	16	3
29	16	3
30	16	3
31	16	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	85	15
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	83	17
7	83	17
8	82	18
9	81	19
10	81	19
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	81	19
14	82	18
15	82	18
16	82	18
17	82	18
18	82	18
19	83	17
20	83	17
21	83	17
22	83	17
23	83	17
24	83	17
25	84	16
26	83	17
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	81	19
30	81	19
31	79	21

	Rain chance (%)
1	4
2	4
3	4
4	5
5	5
6	5
7	5
8	5
9	5
10	6
11	6
12	6
13	6
14	5
15	5
16	5
17	5
18	5
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	4
25	5
26	5
27	5
28	6
29	6
30	6
31	7

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	19	5
2	19	5
3	19	5
4	19	5
5	19	5
6	18	5
7	18	5
8	18	4
9	18	4
10	18	4
11	18	4
12	18	4
13	17	4
14	17	4
15	17	4
16	17	4
17	17	4
18	17	3
19	17	3
20	17	3
21	17	3
22	17	3
23	17	3
24	17	3
25	16	3
26	16	3
27	16	3
28	16	3
29	16	3
30	16	3
31	16	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	85	15
2	85	15
3	85	15
4	84	16
5	84	16
6	83	17
7	83	17
8	82	18
9	81	19
10	81	19
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	81	19
14	82	18
15	82	18
16	82	18
17	82	18
18	82	18
19	83	17
20	83	17
21	83	17
22	83	17
23	83	17
24	83	17
25	84	16
26	83	17
27	82	18
28	82	18
29	81	19
30	81	19
31	79	21

	Rain chance (%)
1	4
2	4
3	4
4	5
5	5
6	5
7	5
8	5
9	5
10	6
11	6
12	6
13	6
14	5
15	5
16	5
17	5
18	5
19	4
20	4
21	4
22	4
23	4
24	4
25	5
26	5
27	5
28	6
29	6
30	6
31	7

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100