Baḥarkah in Winter

In winter (December, January and February), Baḥarkah sees average daytime highs around 13°C and overnight lows near 4°C, with 282 mm of precipitation over about 29 wet days across the season. It is the coldest season of the year and the wettest season of the year.

Across winter, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 13°C. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 41% of the time across winter, and the air most often feels dry.

Winter is Baḥarkah's 3rd-best season to visit on our travel score. For the whole year in context, see Baḥarkah's year-round climate.

Avg daytime high: 13°C; coldest season of the year
Avg overnight low: 4°C
Precipitation: 282 mm; 29 wet days
Avg wind: 8 km/h
Travel score: 4.0; 3rd-best season
Months: Dec · Jan · Feb

← Fall Baḥarkah year-round climate Spring →

Spring Summer Fall Winter

Temperature in Baḥarkah in Winter

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Across winter, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 13°C.

A typical winter day in Baḥarkah reaches about 13°C and drops to 4°C overnight. The warmest of the three months is December, the coolest January.

How winter really feels in Baḥarkah

Once humidity and wind are folded in, winter brings about 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

winter sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Baḥarkah weather by month

How the three winter months (December, January and February) compare with the rest of the year — the season's months are highlighted.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	12° / 3°	101	10.7	9.8	3.3
Feb	14° / 4°	94	10.1	10.6	4.1
Mar	18° / 8°	93	10	11.7	6.1
Apr	24° / 12°	62	7.7	12.9	7.4
May	31° / 18°	22	4.6	13.9	5.4
Jun	38° / 23°	1	0.4	14.4	1.5
Jul	42° / 26°	0	0.1	14.2	0.0
Aug	41° / 26°	0	0.1	13.4	0.0
Sep	37° / 21°	1	0.2	12.2	2.2
Oct	30° / 16°	26	3.1	11.1	6.2
Nov	20° / 9°	64	6.6	10.1	7.2
Dec	14° / 5°	87	8.4	9.6	4.5

Cloud cover in Winter

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 41% of the time across winter.

Chance of precipitation in Winter

Any precipitationSnow

Baḥarkah gets around 282 mm of rain and snow over 29 wet days across winter. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Humidity in Winter

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

Wind in Winter

Winds average 8 km/h across winter.

Sunrise & sunset in Winter

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 42 min in early December to 11 h 06 min by late February. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Solar energy in Winter

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day across winter, about 2.8 kWh/m².

Planning a trip in winter

Hazard calendar for Baḥarkah

In seasonPeak

In winter, Baḥarkah overlaps its rainy season season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Baḥarkah's rainy season runs November–April, when most of the year's rain falls.

Baḥarkah sees seasonal dust haze (April–May), heaviest in May.

Rainy season

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is winter a good time to visit Baḥarkah?

Our two travel scores rate winter for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal), averaged across the three months.

4.0

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

0.1

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

winter is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Baḥarkah.

What to pack for Baḥarkah in Winter

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

In winter, Baḥarkah sees daytime highs around 13°C and nights near 4°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and rain gear. About 29 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

UV index in Baḥarkah in Winter

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV across winter averages around 3. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Baḥarkah peaks around June 16 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 12 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	2	3	4	6	8	10	8	10	8	5	3	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Very high	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	2	Moderate
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	4	Moderate
Apr	6	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	10	Extreme
Jul	8	Very high
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	8	Very high
Oct	5	Moderate
Nov	3	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Baḥarkah in Winter

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

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

Air quality in Baḥarkah is worst in March — around 49 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	37	41	49	49	47	42	38	38	40	42	37	36
Level	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	37	Poor
Feb	41	Poor
Mar	49	Poor
Apr	49	Poor
May	47	Poor
Jun	42	Poor
Jul	38	Poor
Aug	38	Poor
Sep	40	Poor
Oct	42	Poor
Nov	37	Poor
Dec	36	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Baḥarkah?

Baḥarkah sits at 36.3°N, 44.0°E, 464 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Erbil, 14 km away.

Topography around Baḥarkah

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Baḥarkah has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 95 m around an average of 475 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 859 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,498 m.

The land around Baḥarkah is covered by cropland (60%) and artificial surfaces (21%) within 3 km, cropland (54%) and grassland (27%) within 16 km, and grassland (50%) and cropland (40%) within 80 km.

3 km

95 m

cropland 60%

16 km

859 m

cropland 54%

80 km

2,498 m

grassland 50%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← Fall Baḥarkah year-round climate Spring →

Winter weather nearby: Erbil 14 km · Khasnahzān 16 km · Pīrmām 16 km · Shaqlāwah 28 km · Ḩarir 39 km · Khalīfān 46 km · 'Ākra 48 km · ‘Aqrah 51 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

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 Baḥarkah (36.3156°, 44.0353°, elevation 464 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.