Climate and average weather in Zaxo

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

Best: late September to early November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Zaxo typically varies from -2°C to 37°C, and is rarely below -8°C or above 41°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 Zaxo for warm-weather activities are from late April to late May and late September to early November.

Hottest
Jul
37°
Coldest
Jan
-2°
Wettest
Mar
116 mm
Driest
Jul
1 mm
Rain / yr
658 mm
73 wet days
Daylight
9.4–14.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
439 m
37.1°N
Clearest
Aug
5% cloud

Zaxo is city and centre of the Zakho District in Iraqi Kurdistan.

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

Zaxo 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 late September to early November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.8 months, from June 1 to September 23, with daily high temperatures above 30°C. The hottest month of the year in Zaxo is July, with an average high of 37°C and low of 21°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 26 to March 15, with daily high temperatures below 14°C. The coldest month of the year in Zaxo is January, with an average low of -2°C and high of 8°C.

Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 17°C) in August.

-10°10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan8-2
Feb10-1
Mar143
Apr207
May2612
Jun3317
Jul3721
Aug3720
Sep3215
Oct2511
Nov164
Dec100

How hot and cold Zaxo 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, Zaxo feels like about 38°C (around July 25). About 100 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -5°C (around January 20), with roughly 95 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan88-4-2
Feb1010-3-1
Mar141413
Apr192067
May26261212
Jun33331717
Jul37372121
Aug37372020
Sep32321515
Oct25251011
Nov161634
Dec1010-20

Average hourly temperature in Zaxo

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 37°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -2°C.

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

Zaxo weather by month

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

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / -2°11310.35.69.71.4
Feb10° / -1°10811.35.610.62.0
Mar14° / 11612.32.911.74.0
Apr20° / 8410.30.212.96.3
May26° / 12°3560147.4
Jun33° / 17°20.6014.54.5
Jul37° / 21°10.2014.31.9
Aug37° / 20°10.1013.42.3
Sep32° / 15°10.4012.35.6
Oct25° / 11°2940118.0
Nov16° / 667.10.7105.7
Dec10° / -0°1059.93.59.52.4

Chance of rain

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

Zaxo gets about 658 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.7 months, from around Oct 25 to May 15, peaking in March at about 42% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 23.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 116 mm over about 12 wet days; July is the driest, with 1 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMar 20 · 42%Jul 23 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3310
Feb4011
Mar4012
Apr3510
May196
Jun31
Jul00
Aug00
Sep20
Oct134
Nov247
Dec3210

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Zaxo collects about 658 mm of rain across 73 wet days — roughly 55 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 116 mm, while July is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 51% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec113108116843521112966105
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan113106
Feb108116
Mar116123
Apr84100
May3560
Jun210
Jul100
Aug100
Sep100
Oct2940
Nov6671
Dec105104

Snow in Zaxo

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Zaxo averages about 19 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 15 to Apr 10 — about 4.8 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 6 days of snow and an estimated 30 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 81 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 1
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan622
Feb630
Mar39
Apr01
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov12
Dec417

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Zaxo, 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 12 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around October 27. The clearest month is August, 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 6.4 months, ending around May 11. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 52% 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 13 · 100%Jan 30 · 46%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5149
Feb4852
Mar5248
Apr6040
May7822
Jun964
Jul991
Aug1000
Sep982
Oct8317
Nov6535
Dec5347

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 19, brings about 14 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around December 19, only 9 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.77:275:10
Feb10.67:065:41
Mar11.76:286:10
Apr12.95:416:38
May14.05:067:05
Jun14.54:537:26
Jul14.35:057:25
Aug13.45:306:56
Sep12.35:576:11
Oct11.06:235:25
Nov10.06:554:54
Dec9.57:224:49

Sunny days

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

Zaxo averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 10 and 30 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.1 months, from around May 20 to Oct 21. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 30 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 11 sunny days — about 65% fewer than the August peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 430 daysFeb 110 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan12Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar12Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May19Bright
Jun27Brilliant
Jul30Brilliant
Aug31Brilliant
Sep28Brilliant
Oct22Bright
Nov15Bright
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 Zaxo, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in May, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May991
Jun1000
Jul982
Aug982
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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.

Wind in Zaxo is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJun 17 · 7 km/hNov 23 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Zaxo

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

Best time to visit Zaxo

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late October, Zaxo is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Zaxo for general outdoor tourist activities run from late April to late May and again from late September to early November, with a peak score in the second week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 13 · 8.4

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
Jan1.4poor
Feb2.1poor
Mar4.0fair
Apr6.3good
May7.3good
Jun4.5fair
Jul2.0poor
Aug2.4poor
Sep5.6good
Oct8.0ideal
Nov5.7good
Dec2.5poor

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 Zaxo for hot-weather activities run from mid May to late June and again from late August to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 27 · 9.1

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 Zaxo, 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 37°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 8°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Zaxo sees daytime highs around 37°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Zaxo 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 Zaxo peaks around June 17 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 2 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highVery highHighModerateJun 17UV 10Jan 10UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb3Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul9Very high
Aug10Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Zaxo

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)
Jan00
Feb2.50
Mar40
Apr60
May84.5
Jun8.56
Jul8.55.5
Aug85.5
Sep73.5
Oct50
Nov20
Dec00

Air quality in Zaxo 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 Zaxo is worst in May — around 30 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.8× the cleanest month (December, 17 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateMay 1230 µg/m³Dec 1517 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan18Moderate
Feb22Moderate
Mar27Moderate
Apr29Moderate
May30Moderate
Jun24Moderate
Jul23Moderate
Aug22Moderate
Sep22Moderate
Oct23Moderate
Nov18Moderate
Dec17Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Zaxo typically lasts about 294 days, from around February 22 to December 12 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from March 30 to November 12.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 2250%Mar 3090%Nov 1290%Dec 1250%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2931
Feb4328
Mar7729
Apr980
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov8518
Dec4731

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. Zaxo banks about 2,672 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar2
Apr102
May283
Jun459
Jul585
Aug563
Sep408
Oct240
Nov29
Dec0

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.

Zaxo receives about 5.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 and 8.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Apr 1 to Sep 30. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 71% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 18.1 kWhDec 182.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.5Moderate
Feb3.4Moderate
Mar4.5Bright
Apr5.8Bright
May7.0Intense
Jun7.9Intense
Jul7.9Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.0Intense
Oct4.2Bright
Nov2.9Moderate
Dec2.2Moderate

Where is Zaxo?

Zaxo sits at 37.1°N, 42.7°E, 439 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Silopi, 22 km away.

Topography around Zaxo

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Zaxo has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 224 m around an average of 469 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 875 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,101 m.

The land around Zaxo is covered by artificial surfaces (54%) and grassland (24%) within 3 km, grassland (54%) and cropland (33%) within 16 km, and grassland (53%) and cropland (35%) within 80 km.

3 km
224 m
16 km
875 m
80 km
3,101 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Silopi 22 km · Batifa 29 km · Sumayl 35 km · Simele 35 km · Dihok 41 km · Şırnak 45 km · Al Mālikīyah 48 km · Cizre 49 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 Zaxo (37.1487°, 42.6859°, elevation 439 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).