Karbala weather in December

In December, Karbala sees average daytime highs of 18°C and overnight lows near 8°C, with 17 mm of rain across 3.1 wet days and about 9.9 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 3rd-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 20°C in the first days to 17°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 61% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 hours at the start of December to 9 h 54 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Karbala's 12th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Karbala's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 18°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 8°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 17 mm; 3.1 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 54 min; 7:04 AM – 4:56 PM
Cloud cover: 36%; 12th clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 3.1 kWh/m²
Travel score: 7.1; out of 10

Karbala is city in Karbala Governorate, Iraq.

Founded: ~690 CE

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

← November Karbala 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 20°C in the first days to 17°C by the end.

A typical December day in Karbala reaches about 18°C in the afternoon and slips back to 8°C overnight — a 10°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 14°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)	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17
Avg low (°C)	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7

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

How December really feels in Karbala

Once humidity and wind are folded in, December averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 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

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

Karbala weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 11th-warmest and 3rd-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	16° / 7°	20	4.1	10.1	6.3
Feb	19° / 9°	15	3	10.8	7.6
Mar	25° / 13°	13	2.5	11.8	8.6
Apr	31° / 18°	11	2.3	12.8	5.7
May	37° / 24°	3	0.6	13.7	1.8
Jun	42° / 28°	0	0	14.1	0.0
Jul	44° / 30°	0	0	13.9	0.0
Aug	44° / 29°	0	0	13.2	0.0
Sep	41° / 26°	0	0	12.2	0.3
Oct	34° / 20°	4	0.9	11.2	4.0
Nov	24° / 13°	19	2.9	10.3	8.3
Dec	18° / 8°	17	3.1	9.9	7.1

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 61% of the time in December, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 11% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 28%.

	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 (%)	73	73	73	72	72	72	72	71	71	72	72	72	73	72	72	73	72	72	73	73	72	72	72	72	72	72	71	72	71	71	71
Cloudier (%)	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	29	29	28	28	28	27	28	28	27	28	28	27	27	28	28	28	28	28	28	29	28	29	29	29

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	73	27
2	73	27
3	73	27
4	72	28
5	72	28
6	72	28
7	72	28
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	72	28
11	72	28
12	72	28
13	73	27
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	72	28
22	72	28
23	72	28
24	72	28
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	71	29
30	71	29
31	71	29

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Karbala gets around 17 mm of rain over 3.1 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 10% and peaks near 11% 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 (%)	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	11

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

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 98% 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 (%)	93	93	94	95	95	96	96	97	97	97	98	98	98	98	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99
Comfortable (%)	7	7	6	5	5	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	93	7
2	93	7
3	94	6
4	95	5
5	95	5
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	99	1

Wind in December

Winds average 11 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 11 km/h on the calmest days to 11 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)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
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	11	calm
2	11	calm
3	11	calm
4	11	calm
5	11	calm
6	11	calm
7	11	calm
8	11	calm
9	11	calm
10	11	calm
11	11	calm
12	11	calm
13	11	calm
14	11	calm
15	11	calm
16	11	calm
17	11	calm
18	11	calm
19	11	calm
20	11	calm
21	11	calm
22	11	calm
23	11	calm
24	11	calm
25	11	calm
26	11	calm
27	11	calm
28	11	calm
29	11	calm
30	11	calm
31	11	calm

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 hours at the start of December to 9 h 54 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 6 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 6:53 AM to 7:11 AM, and sunset from 4:54 PM to 5:04 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)	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9
Sunrise (AM)	6:53	6:54	6:55	6:56	6:57	6:57	6:58	6:59	7:00	7:00	7:01	7:02	7:02	7:03	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:05	7:06	7:06	7:07	7:07	7:08	7:08	7:09	7:09	7:09	7:10	7:10	7:10	7:11
Sunset (PM)	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:54	4:55	4:55	4:55	4:55	4:56	4:56	4:56	4:57	4:57	4:58	4:58	4:58	4:59	4:59	5:00	5:00	5:01	5:02	5:02	5:03	5:04

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.0	6:53	4:54
2	10.0	6:54	4:54
3	10.0	6:55	4:54
4	10.0	6:56	4:54
5	10.0	6:57	4:54
6	9.9	6:57	4:54
7	9.9	6:58	4:54
8	9.9	6:59	4:54
9	9.9	7:00	4:54
10	9.9	7:00	4:54
11	9.9	7:01	4:55
12	9.9	7:02	4:55
13	9.9	7:02	4:55
14	9.9	7:03	4:55
15	9.9	7:03	4:56
16	9.9	7:04	4:56
17	9.9	7:05	4:56
18	9.9	7:05	4:57
19	9.9	7:06	4:57
20	9.9	7:06	4:58
21	9.9	7:07	4:58
22	9.9	7:07	4:58
23	9.9	7:08	4:59
24	9.9	7:08	4:59
25	9.9	7:09	5:00
26	9.9	7:09	5:00
27	9.9	7:09	5:01
28	9.9	7:10	5:02
29	9.9	7:10	5:02
30	9.9	7:10	5:03
31	9.9	7:11	5:04

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 3.1 kWh/m² — the year's lowest.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.1 kWh/m² to a high of 7.89 kWh/m² in June across the year — December's 3.1 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)	3.3	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.1
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	3.3	Moderate
2	3.2	Moderate
3	3.2	Moderate
4	3.2	Moderate
5	3.2	Moderate
6	3.2	Moderate
7	3.2	Moderate
8	3.1	Moderate
9	3.1	Moderate
10	3.1	Moderate
11	3.1	Moderate
12	3.1	Moderate
13	3.1	Moderate
14	3.1	Moderate
15	3.1	Moderate
16	3.1	Moderate
17	3.1	Moderate
18	3.1	Moderate
19	3.1	Moderate
20	3.1	Moderate
21	3.1	Moderate
22	3.1	Moderate
23	3.1	Moderate
24	3.1	Moderate
25	3.1	Moderate
26	3.1	Moderate
27	3.1	Moderate
28	3.1	Moderate
29	3.1	Moderate
30	3.1	Moderate
31	3.1	Moderate

Planning a trip in December

Hazard calendar for Karbala

In seasonPeak

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

Karbala sees seasonal dust haze (March–October), heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is December a good time to visit Karbala?

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

7.1

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

2.5

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

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

What to pack for Karbala in December

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

In December, Karbala sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 8°C. Little to plan around — just the basics. About 3 days see rain.

UV index in Karbala in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 3 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Karbala peaks around June 15 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 — in 11 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	4	5	6	8	11	7	9	5	6	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	High	High	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Moderate	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	4	Moderate
Mar	5	High
Apr	6	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	7	Very high
Aug	9	Very high
Sep	5	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Karbala 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 Karbala is worst in May — around 77 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), 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)	68	68	73	72	77	64	60	61	65	70	63	70
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	68	Unhealthy
Feb	68	Unhealthy
Mar	73	Unhealthy
Apr	72	Unhealthy
May	77	Unhealthy
Jun	64	Unhealthy
Jul	60	Unhealthy
Aug	61	Unhealthy
Sep	65	Unhealthy
Oct	70	Unhealthy
Nov	63	Unhealthy
Dec	70	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Karbala?

Karbala sits at 32.6°N, 44.0°E, 32 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Al Hindīyah, 20 km away.

Topography around Karbala

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Karbala has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 19 m around an average of 32 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 57 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 178 m.

The land around Karbala is covered by artificial surfaces (76%) within 3 km, bare terrain (49%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (59%) and cropland (28%) within 80 km.

3 km

19 m

artificial surfaces 76%

16 km

57 m

bare terrain 49%

80 km

178 m

bare terrain 59%

treesshrubscroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

December weather nearby: Al Hindīyah 20 km · Saddat al Hindīyah 26 km · Al-Musayab 31 km · Al Maḩāwīl 36 km · Al Hillah 41 km · Nāḩiyat al Iskandarīyah 43 km · Al Maḩmūdīyah 59 km · Al-Qāsim 71 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 Karbala (32.616°, 44.0249°, elevation 32 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	20	10
2	20	10
3	20	10
4	20	10
5	19	9
6	19	9
7	19	9
8	19	9
9	19	9
10	19	9
11	18	9
12	18	9
13	18	9
14	18	8
15	18	8
16	18	8
17	18	8
18	18	8
19	17	8
20	17	8
21	17	8
22	17	8
23	17	8
24	17	8
25	17	7
26	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	73	27
2	73	27
3	73	27
4	72	28
5	72	28
6	72	28
7	72	28
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	72	28
11	72	28
12	72	28
13	73	27
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	72	28
22	72	28
23	72	28
24	72	28
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	71	29
30	71	29
31	71	29

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	93	7
2	93	7
3	94	6
4	95	5
5	95	5
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	99	1

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	73	27
2	73	27
3	73	27
4	72	28
5	72	28
6	72	28
7	72	28
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	72	28
11	72	28
12	72	28
13	73	27
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	72	28
22	72	28
23	72	28
24	72	28
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	71	29
30	71	29
31	71	29

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	93	7
2	93	7
3	94	6
4	95	5
5	95	5
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	99	1

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	73	27
2	73	27
3	73	27
4	72	28
5	72	28
6	72	28
7	72	28
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	72	28
11	72	28
12	72	28
13	73	27
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	73	27
17	72	28
18	72	28
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	72	28
22	72	28
23	72	28
24	72	28
25	72	28
26	72	28
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	71	29
30	71	29
31	71	29

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	93	7
2	93	7
3	94	6
4	95	5
5	95	5
6	96	4
7	96	4
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	99	1