Climate and average weather in Mosul

In Mosul, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are cool and partly cloudy.

Best: mid March to early May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Mosul typically varies from 4°C to 43°C, and is rarely below -1°C or above 46°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 Mosul for warm-weather activities are from mid March to early May and late October to late November.

Hottest
Jul
43°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Jan
70 mm
Driest
Aug
0 mm
Rain / yr
386 mm
53 wet days
Daylight
9.5–14.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
228 m
36.3°N
Clearest
Aug
3% cloud

Mosul is city in northern Iraq and capital of Nineveh Province.

Density
9,350/km²
people per km²
Founded
~700 CE

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

Mosul 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 mid March to early May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.1 months, from May 25 to September 26, with daily high temperatures above 35°C. The hottest month of the year in Mosul is July, with an average high of 43°C and low of 28°C.

The cool season lasts 3.5 months, from November 25 to March 10, with daily high temperatures below 18°C. The coldest month of the year in Mosul is January, with an average low of 4°C and high of 12°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in August.

10°20°30°40°50°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan124
Feb145
Mar199
Apr2514
May3319
Jun3925
Jul4328
Aug4228
Sep3823
Oct3018
Nov2111
Dec146

How hot and cold Mosul 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, Mosul feels like about 43°C (around July 25). About 151 days a year carry some heat stress, and 89 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)
Jan121224
Feb141445
Mar191989
Apr25251414
May33331919
Jun39392525
Jul42432828
Aug42422828
Sep38382323
Oct30301818
Nov21211011
Dec141446

Average hourly temperature in Mosul

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 43°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Mosul 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
Jan12° / 709.79.83.5
Feb14° / 628.810.64.5
Mar19° / 628.611.76.6
Apr25° / 14°436.512.97.5
May33° / 19°162.913.94.4
Jun39° / 25°10.314.40.7
Jul43° / 28°00.114.20.0
Aug42° / 28°0013.40.0
Sep38° / 23°10.212.21.6
Oct30° / 18°202.611.16.0
Nov21° / 11°50610.17.3
Dec14° / 627.79.64.6

Chance of rain

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

Mosul gets about 386 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 6.3 months, from around Oct 25 to May 5, peaking in January at about 34% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 2.

January is the wettest month by volume, with 70 mm over about 10 wet days; August is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetJan 29 · 34%Jul 2 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3010
Feb319
Mar289
Apr227
May93
Jun10
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct93
Nov206
Dec258

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Mosul collects about 386 mm of rain across 53 wet days — roughly 32 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. January is the wettest month with 70 mm, while August is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 50% of the year’s total.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec70626243161001205062
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan7010
Feb629
Mar629
Apr437
May163
Jun10
Jul00
Aug00
Sep10
Oct203
Nov506
Dec628

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Mosul, 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 9 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around October 23. 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 24 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around May 8. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 44% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 9 · 100%Jan 25 · 55%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5644
Feb5941
Mar6436
Apr6931
May8317
Jun982
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep991
Oct8416
Nov6931
Dec5644

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 15, brings about 14 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 9 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 5 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.87:235:10
Feb10.67:035:41
Mar11.76:266:09
Apr12.95:406:35
May13.95:067:02
Jun14.44:547:22
Jul14.25:067:21
Aug13.45:306:53
Sep12.25:556:09
Oct11.16:215:24
Nov10.16:524:54
Dec9.67:184:50

Sunny days

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

Mosul averages about 20 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 30 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.1 months, from around May 17 to Oct 19. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 30 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 13 sunny days — about 57% fewer than the August peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 330 daysJan 2912 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar14Mixed
Apr15Bright
May21Bright
Jun28Brilliant
Jul31Brilliant
Aug31Brilliant
Sep29Brilliant
Oct22Bright
Nov16Bright
Dec13Mixed

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 Mosul, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in October, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 1% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar9910
Apr89100
May87121
Jun9820
Jul9640
Aug9640
Sep9910
Oct9181
Nov9360
Dec10000

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 Mosul is typically calm, near 9 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Mar 27 to Sep 15. The windiest month is June, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 16 to Mar 26, with November the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJun 11 · 10 km/hNov 18 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb8calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May10calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep9calm
Oct8calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Mosul

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

Best time to visit Mosul

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 4 · 7.9

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
Jan3.6fair
Feb4.5fair
Mar6.5good
Apr7.4good
May4.5fair
Jun0.7poor
Jul0.0poor
Aug0.0poor
Sep1.7poor
Oct5.9good
Nov7.2good
Dec4.6fair

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 Mosul for hot-weather activities run from mid April to late May and again from late September to early November, with a peak score in the third week of October.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 16 · 8.3

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 Mosul, 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 43°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 12°C), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Mosul sees daytime highs around 43°C and nights near 28°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Mosul 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 Mosul peaks around June 14 at about 10 (very high) — 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 9 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highVery highHighModerateJun 14UV 10Jan 12UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb3Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun10Extreme
Jul6High
Aug9Very high
Sep7Very high
Oct5Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Mosul

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 5.5 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)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar40
Apr60
May7.54
Jun8.55.5
Jul73
Aug85
Sep6.53.5
Oct4.50
Nov20
Dec00

Air quality in Mosul 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 Mosul is worst in May — around 42 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateMay 2442 µg/m³Nov 2331 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan33Moderate
Feb36Poor
Mar41Poor
Apr40Poor
May42Poor
Jun42Poor
Jul41Poor
Aug38Poor
Sep37Poor
Oct37Poor
Nov31Moderate
Dec31Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Mosul is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about January 27 to January 13 (352 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeJan 2790%Jan 1390%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan9025
Feb9414
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec960

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. Mosul banks about 4,366 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb12
Mar125
Apr285
May496
Jun662
Jul783
Aug770
Sep612
Oct434
Nov171
Dec16

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.

Mosul receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.3 and 8.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 26 to Sep 30. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.4 kWh/m² — roughly 70% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 288.1 kWhDec 182.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.6Moderate
Feb3.6Moderate
Mar4.9Bright
Apr6.2Intense
May7.3Intense
Jun8.0Intense
Jul7.9Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.1Intense
Oct4.4Bright
Nov3.1Moderate
Dec2.4Moderate

Where is Mosul?

Mosul sits at 36.3°N, 43.1°E, 228 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Al Mawşil al Jadīdah, 1.0 km away.

SīnahDihokSimeleSumayl'Ākra

Topography around Mosul

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Mosul has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 77 m around an average of 239 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 255 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,011 m.

The land around Mosul is covered by artificial surfaces (75%) within 3 km, cropland (39%) and grassland (33%) within 16 km, and cropland (65%) and grassland (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
77 m
16 km
255 m
80 km
2,011 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Al Mawşil al Jadīdah 1.0 km · Tallkayf 17 km · Al-Hamdaniya 24 km · Sīnah 53 km · Dihok 60 km · Simele 63 km · Sumayl 63 km · 'Ākra 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 Mosul (36.335°, 43.1189°, elevation 228 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).