Rānyah in Winter

In winter (December, January and February), Rānyah sees average daytime highs around 8°C and overnight lows near -0°C, with 436 mm of precipitation over about 34 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 8°C. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 36% of the time across winter, and the air most often feels dry.

Winter is Rānyah's weakest season of the year to visit on our travel score. For the whole year in context, see Rānyah's year-round climate.

Avg daytime high: 8°C; coldest season of the year
Avg overnight low: -0°C
Precipitation: 436 mm; 34 wet days
Avg wind: 5 km/h
Travel score: 1.5; weakest season of the year
Months: Dec · Jan · Feb

← Fall Rānyah year-round climate Spring →

Spring Summer Fall Winter

Temperature in Rānyah in Winter

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Across winter, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 8°C.

A typical winter day in Rānyah reaches about 8°C and drops to -0°C overnight. The warmest of the three months is December, the coolest January.

How winter really feels in Rānyah

Once humidity and wind are folded in, winter brings about 0 days that feel above 32°C and 81 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

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

Rānyah 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	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	7° / -2°	152	12.5	9.5	9.8	0.8
Feb	9° / -0°	154	12	8.3	10.6	1.5
Mar	13° / 4°	148	13	4.9	11.7	3.6
Apr	19° / 8°	96	11.4	0.4	12.9	6.0
May	25° / 13°	35	6.4	0	13.9	7.5
Jun	33° / 18°	3	0.8	0	14.4	5.1
Jul	37° / 21°	1	0.2	0	14.2	2.3
Aug	37° / 21°	0	0.1	0	13.4	2.3
Sep	32° / 16°	2	0.5	0	12.2	5.5
Oct	25° / 12°	32	4	0	11.1	8.1
Nov	16° / 5°	88	8.1	1	10.1	5.3
Dec	9° / 1°	130	9.7	5.7	9.6	2.1

Cloud cover in Winter

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 36% of the time across winter.

Chance of precipitation in Winter

Any precipitationSnow

Rānyah gets around 436 mm of rain and snow over 34 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 5 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 Rānyah

In seasonPeak

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

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

Rānyah sees seasonal dust haze (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 Rānyah?

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.

1.5

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

winter is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Rānyah.

What to pack for Rānyah in Winter

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

In winter, Rānyah sees daytime highs around 8°C and nights near -0°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: a heavy coat and rain gear. About 34 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain gear

UV index in Rānyah in Winter

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV across winter averages 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 Rānyah peaks around June 23 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 11 at about 3 (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)	3	4	4	6	9	11	11	10	8	5	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	4	Moderate
Mar	4	Moderate
Apr	6	High
May	9	Very high
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	8	Very high
Oct	5	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Rānyah 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 Rānyah is worst in March — around 42 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)	30	34	42	42	41	37	33	33	32	34	29	29
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	30	Moderate
Feb	34	Moderate
Mar	42	Poor
Apr	42	Poor
May	41	Poor
Jun	37	Poor
Jul	33	Moderate
Aug	33	Moderate
Sep	32	Moderate
Oct	34	Moderate
Nov	29	Moderate
Dec	29	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Rānyah?

Rānyah sits at 36.3°N, 44.9°E, 574 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Hajiawa, 8.0 km away.

Topography around Rānyah

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Rānyah has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 787 m around an average of 651 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,983 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,330 m.

The land around Rānyah is covered by cropland (33%), grassland (30%) and artificial surfaces (28%) within 3 km, grassland (40%) and cropland (37%) within 16 km, and grassland (73%) within 80 km.

3 km

787 m

cropland 33%

16 km

1,983 m

grassland 40%

80 km

3,330 m

grassland 73%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← Fall Rānyah year-round climate Spring →

Winter weather nearby: Hajiawa 8.0 km · Qeładizê 24 km · Koysinceq 30 km · Ṟuwandiz 51 km · Shaqlāwah 53 km · Soran 54 km · Sardasht 55 km · Piranshahr 55 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 Rānyah (36.2551°, 44.8824°, elevation 574 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.