Climate and average weather in Al Fāw

In Al Fāw, the summers are humid, sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: early February to late April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Al Fāw typically varies from 12°C to 39°C, and is rarely below 8°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 Al Fāw for warm-weather activities are from early February to late April and late October to late December.

Hottest
Jul
39°
Coldest
Jan
12°
Wettest
Nov
48 mm
Driest
Jun
0 mm
Rain / yr
172 mm
22 wet days
Daylight
10.1–13.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2 m
30.0°N
Clearest
Jul
1% cloud

Al Fāw is port town on the Al Faw Peninsula in Iraq.

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

Al Fāw 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 February to late April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.6 months, from May 19 to October 4, with daily high temperatures above 33°C. The hottest month of the year in Al Fāw is July, with an average high of 39°C and low of 33°C.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from December 1 to March 8, with daily high temperatures below 21°C. The coldest month of the year in Al Fāw is January, with an average low of 12°C and high of 17°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan1712
Feb1813
Mar2217
Apr2722
May3327
Jun3831
Jul3933
Aug3933
Sep3630
Oct3126
Nov2419
Dec1914

How hot and cold Al Fāw 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, Al Fāw feels like about 43°C (around July 31). About 159 days a year carry some heat stress, and 81 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in July.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan17171212
Feb18181313
Mar22221717
Apr27272222
May33332727
Jun38383131
Jul41393233
Aug42393333
Sep38363030
Oct32312626
Nov24241919
Dec19191414

Average hourly temperature in Al Fāw

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 12°C.

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

Al Fāw weather by month

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

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan17° / 12°394.810.36.4
Feb18° / 13°16310.97.3
Mar22° / 17°203.311.88.2
Apr27° / 22°71.412.78.1
May33° / 27°20.313.54.7
Jun38° / 31°0013.91.6
Jul39° / 33°0013.70.8
Aug39° / 33°0013.10.9
Sep36° / 30°0012.22.6
Oct31° / 26°40.811.35.8
Nov24° / 19°483.510.58.2
Dec19° / 14°374.710.17.3

Chance of rain

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

Al Fāw gets about 172 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 5.4 months, from around Oct 28 to Apr 8, peaking in December at about 18% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around May 24.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 48 mm over about 4 wet days; June is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainDec 6 · 18%May 24 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan155
Feb103
Mar113
Apr51
May10
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct31
Nov124
Dec155

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Al Fāw collects about 172 mm of rain across 22 wet days — roughly 14 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 48 mm, while June is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 72% of the year’s total.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec3916207244837
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan395
Feb163
Mar203
Apr71
May20
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct41
Nov484
Dec375

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Al Fāw, 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 19 and lasts for 5.3 months, ending around October 27. The clearest month is July, 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 28 and lasts for 6.7 months, ending around May 18. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 28% 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 3 · 100%Jan 9 · 70%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7228
Feb7822
Mar7723
Apr7624
May8416
Jun991
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep991
Oct928
Nov7822
Dec7525

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 13 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.36:475:03
Feb10.96:335:28
Mar11.86:035:49
Apr12.75:256:08
May13.54:576:27
Jun13.94:496:44
Jul13.74:596:44
Aug13.15:176:23
Sep12.25:355:46
Oct11.35:535:09
Nov10.56:174:45
Dec10.16:404:45

Sunny days

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

Al Fāw averages about 24 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 18 and 30 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around May 20 to Oct 25. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 30 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 18 sunny days — about 39% fewer than the July peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 330 daysJan 418 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan19Bright
Feb19Bright
Mar20Bright
Apr19Bright
May23Brilliant
Jun29Brilliant
Jul31Brilliant
Aug31Brilliant
Sep30Brilliant
Oct27Brilliant
Nov19Bright
Dec19Bright

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 Al Fāw, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around April 15 to November 8. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 89% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 9 to April 14, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 97% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 31 · 99%Aug 9 · 8%miserablemuggyoppressivedryhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan83153000
Feb80182000
Mar632611000
Apr3324311100
May1627272270
Jun1040261284
Jul0233816716
Aug01034201026
Sep52328141020
Oct172218151612
Nov4520171251
Dec701810200

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 Al Fāw is typically light breeze, near 17 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around May 24 to Sep 3. The windiest month is June, averaging about 21 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 4 to May 23, with October the calmest month at about 15 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyJun 29 · 22 km/hOct 14 · 14 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan17light breeze
Feb17light breeze
Mar17light breeze
Apr16light breeze
May17light breeze
Jun21breezy
Jul21breezy
Aug18light breeze
Sep16light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov16light breeze
Dec16light breeze

Hazard calendar for Al Fāw

In seasonPeak

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

Al Fāw sees seasonal dust haze (March–July), heaviest in May.

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

Best time to visit Al Fāw

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid February, Al Fāw is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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 Al Fāw for general outdoor tourist activities run from early February to late April and again from late October to late December, with a peak score in the first week of April.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationApr 2 · 8.6

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
Jan6.4good
Feb7.3good
Mar8.2ideal
Apr8.1ideal
May4.7fair
Jun1.7poor
Jul0.8poor
Aug0.9poor
Sep2.6poor
Oct5.8good
Nov8.1ideal
Dec7.3good

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 Al Fāw for hot-weather activities run from late March to late May and again from late September to mid November, with a peak score in the last week of October.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 23 · 8.8

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 Al Fāw, 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 17°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Al Fāw sees daytime highs around 39°C and nights near 33°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: a windbreaker.

Sea temperature near Al Fāw

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 15 km away) is warmest in August at about 32°C and coldest in February near 16°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Apr 1 to Dec 9 — about 8.3 months when the water holds above 20°C.

20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan16Cool
Feb16Cool
Mar18Cool
Apr22Refreshing
May26Warm
Jun29Tropical
Jul31Tropical
Aug32Tropical
Sep31Tropical
Oct28Tropical
Nov24Refreshing
Dec19Cool

UV index (midday) in Al Fāw 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 Al Fāw peaks around June 22 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 12 at about 3 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJun 22UV 10Jan 12UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar5High
Apr5High
May7High
Jun11Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep7High
Oct6High
Nov5Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Al Fāw

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 6 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)
Jan1.50
Feb30
Mar5.50
Apr60
May73
Jun8.56
Jul85.5
Aug7.55
Sep6.52.5
Oct5.50
Nov40
Dec20

Air quality in Al Fāw 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 Al Fāw is worst in May — around 53 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorMay 1253 µg/m³Nov 1839 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan45Poor
Feb44Poor
Mar48Poor
Apr52Poor
May53Poor
Jun47Poor
Jul49Poor
Aug49Poor
Sep49Poor
Oct46Poor
Nov38Poor
Dec43Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Al Fāw is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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. Al Fāw banks about 5,744 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan132
Feb158
Mar288
Apr425
May618
Jun727
Jul797
Aug796
Sep691
Oct572
Nov348
Dec194

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.

Al Fāw receives about 5.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.3 and 7.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Mar 18 to Sep 30. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.3 kWh/m² — roughly 57% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 117.7 kWhDec 163.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.5Moderate
Feb4.6Bright
Mar5.7Bright
Apr6.6Intense
May7.4Intense
Jun7.7Intense
Jul7.4Intense
Aug7.2Intense
Sep6.3Intense
Oct5.1Bright
Nov3.9Moderate
Dec3.3Moderate

Where is Al Fāw?

Al Fāw sits at 30.0°N, 48.5°E, 2 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Abadan, 44 km away.

Umm QaşrKhorramshahrŞafwānShādegānAbū al-KahṣībBandar-e Emam KhomeyniSalmiya

Topography around Al Fāw

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Al Fāw has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 10 m around an average of 1 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 10 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 95 m.

The land around Al Fāw is covered by bare terrain (50%) within 3 km, bare terrain (55%) and water (33%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (51%) and water (41%) within 80 km.

3 km
10 m
16 km
10 m
80 km
95 m
treesshrubscroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Abadan 44 km · Umm Qaşr 54 km · Khorramshahr 59 km · Şafwān 75 km · Shādegān 77 km · Abū al-Kahṣīb 77 km · Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni 79 km · Salmiya 81 km

Iraq travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / D / G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 38% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$5,410
2025
Happiness
5.2 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
60%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
9.5
per 100k, 2013
Road deaths
27.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 406
Religion
Christian 1%

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 Al Fāw (29.9742°, 48.4731°, elevation 2 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).