Climate and average weather in Merzouga

In Merzouga, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are mild and clear.

Best: late October to mid April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Merzouga typically varies from 6°C to 42°C, and is rarely below 1°C or above 44°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Merzouga for warm-weather activities is from late October to mid April.

Hottest
Jul
42°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Oct
8 mm
Driest
Jul
1 mm
Rain / yr
51 mm
10 wet days
Daylight
10.0–14.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
0 m
31.1°N
Clearest
Jun
20% cloud

Merzouga 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 October to mid April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.5 months, from June 2 to September 14, with daily high temperatures above 36°C. The hottest month of the year in Merzouga is July, with an average high of 42°C and low of 29°C.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 17 to February 28, with daily high temperatures below 23°C. The coldest month of the year in Merzouga is January, with an average low of 6°C and high of 18°C.

Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan186
Feb218
Mar2512
Apr2916
May3321
Jun3825
Jul4229
Aug4128
Sep3624
Oct3018
Nov2311
Dec197

How hot and cold Merzouga 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, Merzouga feels like about 42°C (around July 15). About 150 days a year carry some heat stress, and 71 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)
Jan181836
Feb212168
Mar25251212
Apr29291616
May33332021
Jun38382525
Jul42422929
Aug41412828
Sep36362324
Oct30301818
Nov23231111
Dec191957

Average hourly temperature in Merzouga

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 42°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Merzouga 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
Jan18° / 51.210.27.8
Feb21° / 6110.98.4
Mar25° / 12°61.111.88.9
Apr29° / 16°30.612.77.3
May33° / 21°40.713.64.3
Jun38° / 25°10.3141.2
Jul42° / 29°10.113.80.0
Aug41° / 28°20.513.10.1
Sep36° / 24°71.112.22.8
Oct30° / 18°81.211.26.7
Nov23° / 11°61.310.48.7
Dec19° / 40.9108.0

Chance of rain

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

Merzouga gets about 51 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, and that barely changes with the seasons — rain is spread fairly evenly through the year.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 8 mm over about 1 wet days; July is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmostly drysome rainJan 21 · 5%Jun 27 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan41
Feb41
Mar41
Apr21
May21
Jun10
Jul00
Aug21
Sep31
Oct41
Nov41
Dec31

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Merzouga collects about 51 mm of rain across 10 wet days — roughly 4 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 8 mm, while July is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 41% of the year’s total.

025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec566341127864
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan51
Feb61
Mar61
Apr31
May41
Jun10
Jul10
Aug21
Sep71
Oct81
Nov61
Dec41

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Merzouga, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around June 1 and lasts for 3.3 months, ending around September 7. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 98% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 8 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around February 21. The cloudiest month is October, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 21% 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 12 · 98%Oct 22 · 78%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8218
Feb8416
Mar8416
Apr8317
May8317
Jun928
Jul982
Aug946
Sep8317
Oct7921
Nov8020
Dec8020

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 8, brings about 14 hours of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 hours — a swing of roughly 4 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.27:205:31
Feb10.97:045:57
Mar11.86:336:19
Apr12.75:546:39
May13.65:256:59
Jun14.05:167:17
Jul13.85:277:17
Aug13.15:466:54
Sep12.26:056:16
Oct11.26:245:38
Nov10.46:495:13
Dec10.07:125:12

Sunny days

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

Merzouga averages about 23 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 20 and 26 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.1 months, from around Jun 5 to Sep 6. The sunniest month is June, with roughly 25 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is October, down near 20 sunny days — about 18% fewer than the June peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJun 2826 daysOct 2120 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan23Bright
Feb21Bright
Mar23Bright
Apr21Bright
May22Bright
Jun24Brilliant
Jul26Brilliant
Aug26Brilliant
Sep21Bright
Oct21Bright
Nov21Bright
Dec22Bright

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 Merzouga, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in September, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 2% 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 (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May10000
Jun10000
Jul10000
Aug9721
Sep9442
Oct9541
Nov10000
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 Merzouga is typically light breeze, near 14 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.8 months, from around Mar 3 to Jul 27. The windiest month is May, averaging about 18 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 28 to Mar 2, with January the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyMay 14 · 18 km/hJan 2 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb13light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr17light breeze
May18light breeze
Jun16light breeze
Jul15light breeze
Aug14light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov12calm
Dec11calm

Hazard calendar for Merzouga

In seasonPeak

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

Merzouga sees seasonal dust haze (April–September), heaviest in July.

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

Best time to visit Merzouga

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 9 · 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
Jan7.8ideal
Feb8.4ideal
Mar8.9ideal
Apr7.2good
May4.3fair
Jun1.2poor
Jul0.0poor
Aug0.2poor
Sep2.8poor
Oct6.7good
Nov8.7ideal
Dec8.0ideal

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationApr 16 · 9.0

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 Merzouga, 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 42°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 18°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Merzouga sees daytime highs around 42°C and nights near 29°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Merzouga 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 Merzouga peaks around July 17 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 4 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highExtremeVery highModerateJul 17UV 10Dec 17UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan5Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar8Very high
Apr9Very high
May9Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug10Very high
Sep9Very high
Oct8Very high
Nov5Moderate
Dec4Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Merzouga

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 July 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)
Jan40
Feb50
Mar6.54
Apr7.55
May85
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep74.5
Oct6.53.5
Nov4.50
Dec30

Air quality in Merzouga 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 Merzouga is worst in April — around 61 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 3.9× the cleanest month (December, 16 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorUnhealthyPoorModerateApr 2160 µg/m³Dec 1616 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan21Moderate
Feb33Moderate
Mar42Poor
Apr61Unhealthy
May58Unhealthy
Jun56Unhealthy
Jul51Poor
Aug53Poor
Sep46Poor
Oct31Moderate
Nov20Moderate
Dec16Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Merzouga 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
Jan980
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec990

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. Merzouga banks about 4,822 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan55
Feb118
Mar258
Apr376
May524
Jun648
Jul781
Aug752
Sep588
Oct426
Nov213
Dec83

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.

Merzouga receives about 6.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.6 and 8.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Mar 12 to Sep 22. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.6 kWh/m² — roughly 55% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 208.1 kWhDec 183.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.0Moderate
Feb5.0Bright
Mar6.3Intense
Apr7.4Intense
May7.9Intense
Jun8.1Intense
Jul7.8Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.3Intense
Oct5.2Bright
Nov4.2Bright
Dec3.6Moderate

Where is Merzouga?

Merzouga sits at 31.1°N, 4.0°W, 0 m above sea level, in Morocco. The nearest listed city is Moulay Ali Cherif, 31 km away.

ErrachidiaGoulmimaRichTinerhirBéchar

Topography around Merzouga

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Merzouga has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 116 m around an average of 706 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 242 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 703 m.

The land around Merzouga is covered by bare terrain (97%) within 3 km, bare terrain (100%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (99%) within 80 km.

3 km
116 m
16 km
242 m
80 km
703 m
artificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Moulay Ali Cherif 31 km · Reçani 32 km · Arfoud 43 km · Errachidia 100 km · Goulmima 111 km · Rich 137 km · Tinerhir 152 km · Béchar 180 km

Morocco travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 42% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$4,672
2025
Happiness
4.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
80%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
17
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 492
Religion
Muslim 99%other 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 Merzouga (31.0994°, -4.0134°, elevation 0 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).