Climate and average weather in ‘Irqah

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

Best: early November to late March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in ‘Irqah typically varies from 9°C to 42°C, and is rarely below 4°C or above 45°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 ‘Irqah for warm-weather activities is from early November to late March.

Hottest
Jul
42°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Apr
17 mm
Driest
Jun
0 mm
Rain / yr
79 mm
15 wet days
Daylight
10.5–13.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
662 m
24.7°N
Clearest
Jun
7% cloud

‘Irqah 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 early November to late March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.9 months, from May 7 to October 2, with daily high temperatures above 37°C. The hottest month of the year in ‘Irqah is July, with an average high of 42°C and low of 29°C.

The cool season lasts 2.9 months, from November 26 to February 21, with daily high temperatures below 24°C. The coldest month of the year in ‘Irqah is January, with an average low of 9°C and high of 20°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan209
Feb2311
Mar2715
Apr3320
May3826
Jun4128
Jul4229
Aug4229
Sep3926
Oct3421
Nov2615
Dec2111

How hot and cold ‘Irqah 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, ‘Irqah feels like about 43°C (around July 17). About 196 days a year carry some heat stress, and 121 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)
Jan202079
Feb23231111
Mar27271515
Apr32332020
May38382626
Jun41412828
Jul42422929
Aug42422929
Sep39392626
Oct34342121
Nov26261515
Dec21211011

Average hourly temperature in ‘Irqah

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

‘Irqah 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
Jan20° / 132.410.68.0
Feb23° / 11°71.611.18.8
Mar27° / 15°142.411.88.0
Apr33° / 20°173.112.64.6
May38° / 26°30.713.21.2
Jun41° / 28°0013.50.0
Jul42° / 29°0013.40.0
Aug42° / 29°0012.90.0
Sep39° / 26°0012.20.6
Oct34° / 21°10.311.44.2
Nov26° / 15°142.510.88.1
Dec21° / 11°112.110.58.4

Chance of rain

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

‘Irqah gets about 79 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 6.2 months, from around Nov 1 to May 9, peaking in April at about 11% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around May 30.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 17 mm over about 3 wet days; June is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainApr 12 · 11%May 30 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan72
Feb62
Mar82
Apr103
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct10
Nov83
Dec82

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, ‘Irqah collects about 79 mm of rain across 15 wet days — roughly 7 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 17 mm, while June is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 56% of the year’s total.

025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1371417311411
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan132
Feb72
Mar142
Apr173
May31
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct10
Nov143
Dec112

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In ‘Irqah, 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 May 23 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around November 9. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 99% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 10 and lasts for 6.4 months, ending around May 22. The cloudiest month is April, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 23 · 99%Apr 11 · 78%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8119
Feb8713
Mar8119
Apr7921
May8713
Jun982
Jul946
Aug964
Sep991
Oct946
Nov8713
Dec8317

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 5, brings about 13 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 3 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.66:445:22
Feb11.16:345:42
Mar11.86:095:58
Apr12.65:366:11
May13.25:146:26
Jun13.55:086:39
Jul13.45:176:41
Aug12.95:326:24
Sep12.25:445:52
Oct11.45:565:21
Nov10.86:155:02
Dec10.56:355:04

Sunny days

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

‘Irqah averages about 24 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 19 and 29 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.6 months, from around May 22 to Nov 8. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 29 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is April, down near 20 sunny days — about 32% fewer than the September peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2329 daysApr 1119 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan22Bright
Feb21Brilliant
Mar22Bright
Apr19Bright
May24Brilliant
Jun28Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep28Brilliant
Oct28Brilliant
Nov23Brilliant
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 ‘Irqah, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in November, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 3% 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 (%)
Jan9910
Feb9820
Mar9541
Apr9172
May9711
Jun10000
Jul9910
Aug10000
Sep10000
Oct9811
Nov9163
Dec9541

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 ‘Irqah is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Jan 31 to Aug 17. The windiest month is March, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 18 to Jan 30, with October the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMar 22 · 15 km/hOct 7 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr14light breeze
May14light breeze
Jun14light breeze
Jul14light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep11calm
Oct11calm
Nov12calm
Dec12calm

Hazard calendar for ‘Irqah

In seasonPeak

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

‘Irqah sees seasonal dust haze (February–September), heaviest in May.

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

Best time to visit ‘Irqah

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid November, ‘Irqah 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 ‘Irqah for general outdoor tourist activities is from early November to late March, with a peak score in the last week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 23 · 9.0

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
Jan8.0ideal
Feb8.8ideal
Mar8.0ideal
Apr4.6fair
May1.3poor
Jun0.0poor
Jul0.0poor
Aug0.0poor
Sep0.7poor
Oct4.2fair
Nov8.1ideal
Dec8.3ideal

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 ‘Irqah for hot-weather activities run from late February to late April and again from mid October to late November, with a peak score in the first week of November.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 4 · 8.9

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 ‘Irqah, 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 20°C), pack a light layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

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

UV index (midday) in ‘Irqah 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 ‘Irqah peaks around July 20 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 4 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecHighVery highVery highExtremeVery highModerateJul 20UV 11Dec 15UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan6High
Feb7Very high
Mar9Very high
Apr7Very high
May10Extreme
Jun9Very high
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep9Very high
Oct8Very high
Nov5Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in ‘Irqah

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)
Jan5.50
Feb63
Mar74.5
Apr73.5
May85.5
Jun85.5
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep74.5
Oct6.54
Nov4.50
Dec30

Air quality in ‘Irqah 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 ‘Irqah is worst in March — around 93 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 1.8× the cleanest month (October, 51 µg/m³).

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

0306090120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorUnhealthyMar 2192 µg/m³Oct 1352 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan68Unhealthy
Feb75Unhealthy
Mar93Unhealthy
Apr89Unhealthy
May85Unhealthy
Jun71Unhealthy
Jul70Unhealthy
Aug65Unhealthy
Sep54Poor
Oct51Poor
Nov59Unhealthy
Dec63Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

‘Irqah 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. ‘Irqah banks about 5,903 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan133
Feb192
Mar344
Apr491
May677
Jun740
Jul798
Aug794
Sep682
Oct546
Nov324
Dec182

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.

‘Irqah receives about 6.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.2 and 7.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Mar 17 to Oct 5. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.2 kWh/m² — roughly 46% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 57.8 kWhDec 184.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.4Bright
Feb5.4Bright
Mar6.2Intense
Apr7.0Intense
May7.6Intense
Jun7.7Intense
Jul7.5Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.7Intense
Oct5.9Bright
Nov4.7Bright
Dec4.2Bright

Where is ‘Irqah?

‘Irqah sits at 24.7°N, 46.6°E, 662 m above sea level, in Saudi Arabia. The nearest listed city is Ad Dir‘īyah, 11 km away.

Ḥawṭah Banī TamīmShaqraAd Dawādimī

Topography around ‘Irqah

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around ‘Irqah has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 90 m around an average of 648 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 298 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 716 m.

The land around ‘Irqah is covered by artificial surfaces (45%) and bare terrain (43%) within 3 km, artificial surfaces (53%) and bare terrain (43%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (94%) within 80 km.

3 km
90 m
16 km
298 m
80 km
716 m
treesshrubscroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Ad Dir‘īyah 11 km · Riyadh 11 km · Al Kharj 94 km · Ad Dilam 95 km · Rumāḩ 113 km · Ḥawṭah Banī Tamīm 134 km · Shaqra 151 km · Ad Dawādimī 225 km

Saudi Arabia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type G
230 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 47% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$34,537
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
0.9
per 100k, 2019
Road deaths
35.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 404

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 ‘Irqah (24.6803°, 46.6111°, elevation 662 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).