Climate and average weather in Benghazi

In Benghazi, the summers are humid, hot, dry, and clear and the winters are mild, breezy, and mostly clear.

Best: mid March to late November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Benghazi typically varies from 12°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 32°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Benghazi for warm-weather activities is from mid March to late November.

Hottest
Aug
30°
Coldest
Jan
12°
Wettest
Dec
43 mm
Driest
Jul
0 mm
Rain / yr
164 mm
32 wet days
Daylight
9.9–14.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
3 m
32.1°N
Clearest
Jul
4% cloud

Benghazi is second largest city in Libya.

Density
2,412/km²
people per km²
Founded
~524 BCE

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

Benghazi 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 late November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.5 months, from June 2 to October 15, with daily high temperatures above 26°C. The hottest month of the year in Benghazi is August, with an average high of 30°C and low of 25°C.

The cool season lasts 3.5 months, from December 8 to March 22, with daily high temperatures below 19°C. The coldest month of the year in Benghazi is January, with an average low of 12°C and high of 17°C.

Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan1712
Feb1712
Mar1913
Apr2216
May2519
Jun2722
Jul2924
Aug3025
Sep2923
Oct2621
Nov2217
Dec1814

How hot and cold Benghazi 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, Benghazi feels like about 32°C (around August 13). About 15 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in August.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan17171212
Feb17171212
Mar19191313
Apr22221516
May25251819
Jun28272122
Jul31292424
Aug32302425
Sep30292323
Oct26262121
Nov22221717
Dec18181414

Average hourly temperature in Benghazi

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 August afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 12°C.

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

Benghazi 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
Jan17° / 12°397.610.15.8
Feb17° / 12°305.610.86.1
Mar19° / 13°153.411.87.4
Apr22° / 16°41.112.88.5
May25° / 19°20.713.69.0
Jun27° / 22°10.214.18.8
Jul29° / 24°0013.97.9
Aug30° / 25°0013.27.3
Sep29° / 23°20.512.27.8
Oct26° / 21°112.111.28.5
Nov22° / 17°173.610.48.0
Dec18° / 14°437.69.96.4

Chance of rain

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

Benghazi gets about 164 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 5.1 months, from around Oct 22 to Mar 25, peaking in December at about 28% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 23.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 43 mm over about 8 wet days; July is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetDec 29 · 28%Jun 23 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan248
Feb206
Mar113
Apr41
May21
Jun10
Jul00
Aug00
Sep11
Oct72
Nov124
Dec248

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Benghazi collects about 164 mm of rain across 32 wet days — roughly 14 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 43 mm, while July is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 68% of the year’s total.

02550JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec393015421002111743
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan398
Feb306
Mar153
Apr41
May21
Jun10
Jul00
Aug00
Sep21
Oct112
Nov174
Dec438

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Benghazi, 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 26 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around October 18. 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 19 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around May 25. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 31% 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 4 · 100%Dec 24 · 68%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7129
Feb7525
Mar8020
Apr8119
May8317
Jun955
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep973
Oct8515
Nov7525
Dec6931

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 11, brings about 14 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.17:465:52
Feb10.87:306:19
Mar11.86:576:42
Apr12.86:167:04
May13.65:477:25
Jun14.15:377:43
Jul13.95:487:43
Aug13.26:087:19
Sep12.26:286:40
Oct11.26:496:01
Nov10.47:155:35
Dec9.97:395:33

Sunny days

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

Benghazi averages about 22 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 5.6 months, from around Apr 30 to Oct 17. 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 2130 daysJan 312 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb14Bright
Mar19Bright
Apr21Bright
May23Bright
Jun27Brilliant
Jul31Brilliant
Aug31Brilliant
Sep28Brilliant
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 Benghazi, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around May 30 to October 26. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 98% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 27 to May 29, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 2 · 100%Jul 28 · 0%oppressivemuggycomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan9910000
Feb9910000
Mar9730000
Apr87121000
May463716100
Jun524402550
Jul021450330
Aug00845451
Sep083547100
Oct938391300
Nov57357100
Dec9370000

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 Benghazi is typically light breeze, near 18 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.4 months, from around Nov 28 to May 9. The windiest month is February, averaging about 20 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 31 to Nov 27, with October the calmest month at about 16 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyFeb 11 · 20 km/hOct 11 · 16 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan20light breeze
Feb20breezy
Mar19light breeze
Apr19light breeze
May18light breeze
Jun18light breeze
Jul18light breeze
Aug18light breeze
Sep16light breeze
Oct16light breeze
Nov17light breeze
Dec19light breeze

Hazard calendar for Benghazi

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

Best time to visit Benghazi

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late November, Benghazi 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 time of year to visit Benghazi for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid March to late November, with a peak score in the second week of May.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 10 · 9.1

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
Jan5.8good
Feb6.2good
Mar7.4good
Apr8.5ideal
May9.0ideal
Jun8.8ideal
Jul7.9ideal
Aug7.3good
Sep7.8ideal
Oct8.4ideal
Nov7.9ideal
Dec6.5good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Benghazi for hot-weather activities is from mid May to late October, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 22 · 9.7

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 Benghazi, 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 August (highs near 30°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 17°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Benghazi sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

Sea temperature near Benghazi

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 18 km away) is warmest in August at about 27°C and coldest in March near 17°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from May 23 to Dec 19 — about 6.9 months when the water holds above 20°C.

15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan18Cool
Feb17Cool
Mar17Cool
Apr18Cool
May19Cool
Jun22Refreshing
Jul25Warm
Aug27Warm
Sep26Warm
Oct25Warm
Nov23Refreshing
Dec20Refreshing

UV index (midday) in Benghazi 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 Benghazi peaks around August 12 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 3 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highVery highVery highHighModerateAug 12UV 10Jan 10UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar6High
Apr7Very high
May7High
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug10Extreme
Sep8Very high
Oct7High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Benghazi

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 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
Feb3.50
Mar5.50
Apr73.5
May73.5
Jun85
Jul8.55.5
Aug85.5
Sep74
Oct62
Nov3.50
Dec00

Air quality in Benghazi 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 Benghazi is worst in April — around 28 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.2× the cleanest month (August, 9 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodModerateApr 1327 µg/m³Aug 119 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan20Moderate
Feb25Moderate
Mar24Moderate
Apr28Moderate
May19Moderate
Jun12Good
Jul9Good
Aug9Good
Sep11Good
Oct16Moderate
Nov17Moderate
Dec14Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Benghazi is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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. Benghazi banks about 3,890 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan137
Feb124
Mar183
Apr256
May359
Jun432
Jul502
Aug527
Sep481
Oct415
Nov286
Dec188

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.

Benghazi receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.7 and 7.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 17 to Sep 25. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.8 kWh/m² — roughly 64% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 287.8 kWhDec 212.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.1Moderate
Feb4.0Bright
Mar5.4Bright
Apr6.6Intense
May7.3Intense
Jun7.8Intense
Jul7.7Intense
Aug7.0Intense
Sep5.9Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov3.3Moderate
Dec2.7Moderate

Where is Benghazi?

Benghazi sits at 32.1°N, 20.1°E, 3 m above sea level, in Libya. The nearest listed city is Al Abyār, 50 km away.

Az ZuwaytīnahAjdabiyaAl Bayḑā’ShahhatAl Burayqah

Topography around Benghazi

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Benghazi has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 23 m around an average of 5 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 89 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 648 m.

The land around Benghazi is covered by artificial surfaces (48%) and water (33%) within 3 km, water (49%) and grassland (20%) within 16 km, and water (39%) and bare terrain (24%) within 80 km.

3 km
23 m
16 km
89 m
80 km
648 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Al Abyār 50 km · Qaryat Sulūq 53 km · Al Marj 83 km · Az Zuwaytīnah 129 km · Ajdabiya 152 km · Al Bayḑā’ 174 km · Shahhat 185 km · Al Burayqah 196 km

Libya travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / F / L
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 39% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$6,449
2025
Happiness
5.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Road deaths
21.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 395
Religion
Muslim 97%Christian 3%

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 Benghazi (32.1149°, 20.0686°, elevation 3 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).