Climate and average weather in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’

In Riyāḑ al Khabrā’, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are mild and clear.

Best: early January to late March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ typically varies from 8°C to 43°C, and is rarely below 2°C or above 46°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ for warm-weather activities are from early January to late March and mid November to late December.

Hottest
Aug
43°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Nov
21 mm
Driest
Jul
0 mm
Rain / yr
81 mm
14 wet days
Daylight
10.4–13.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
658 m
26.1°N
Clearest
Jun
6% cloud

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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 January to late March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’, 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 10 to October 5, with daily high temperatures above 37°C. The hottest month of the year in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ is August, with an average high of 43°C and low of 27°C.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from November 25 to February 22, with daily high temperatures below 24°C. The coldest month of the year in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ is January, with an average low of 8°C and high of 20°C.

Days typically run about 14°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 16°C) in September.

10°20°30°40°50°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan208
Feb2310
Mar2814
Apr3319
May3824
Jun4226
Jul4327
Aug4327
Sep4124
Oct3520
Nov2714
Dec229

How hot and cold Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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, Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ feels like about 43°C (around July 31). About 201 days a year carry some heat stress, and 130 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)
Jan202058
Feb2323810
Mar28281414
Apr33331919
May38382424
Jun42422626
Jul43432727
Aug43432727
Sep41412424
Oct35352020
Nov27271414
Dec222289

Average hourly temperature in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’

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 43°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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° / 132.210.68.0
Feb23° / 10°61.111.18.9
Mar28° / 14°122.211.87.9
Apr33° / 19°132.512.64.5
May38° / 24°20.513.31.1
Jun42° / 26°0013.60.0
Jul43° / 27°0013.50.0
Aug43° / 27°0012.90.0
Sep41° / 24°00.112.20.2
Oct35° / 20°30.311.43.3
Nov27° / 14°212.910.77.8
Dec22° / 122.110.48.4

Chance of rain

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

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ gets about 81 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 3.4 months, from around Oct 29 to Feb 8, peaking in November at about 11% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 8.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 21 mm over about 3 wet days; July is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainNov 25 · 11%Jun 8 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan72
Feb41
Mar72
Apr83
May21
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct10
Nov93
Dec82

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ collects about 81 mm of rain across 14 wet days — roughly 7 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 21 mm, while July is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 58% of the year’s total.

025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1361213200032112
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan132
Feb61
Mar122
Apr133
May21
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct30
Nov213
Dec122

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Riyāḑ al Khabrā’, 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 24 and lasts for 5.3 months, ending around November 1. 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 2 and lasts for 6.7 months, ending around May 23. The cloudiest month is January, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 24 · 100%Jan 5 · 75%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7921
Feb8218
Mar8119
Apr8119
May8614
Jun982
Jul973
Aug973
Sep991
Oct928
Nov8317
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 6, brings about 13 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.66:595:31
Feb11.16:485:53
Mar11.86:216:10
Apr12.65:486:24
May13.35:246:40
Jun13.65:176:55
Jul13.55:276:56
Aug12.95:426:38
Sep12.25:566:05
Oct11.46:105:32
Nov10.76:305:12
Dec10.46:515:13

Sunny days

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

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ averages about 24 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 20 and 30 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.4 months, from around May 24 to Nov 3. The sunniest month is June, with roughly 29 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 21 sunny days — about 28% fewer than the June peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJun 2430 daysJan 520 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan21Bright
Feb20Bright
Mar22Bright
Apr21Bright
May23Bright
Jun29Brilliant
Jul28Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep28Brilliant
Oct27Brilliant
Nov22Bright
Dec21Bright

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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in November, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 4% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan9820
Feb9910
Mar9730
Apr9352
May9821
Jun10000
Jul10000
Aug10000
Sep10000
Oct9712
Nov8884
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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around Jan 29 to Jun 11. The windiest month is March, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 12 to Nov 3, with October the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMar 24 · 15 km/hOct 4 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan13light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr15light breeze
May14light breeze
Jun13light breeze
Jul12light breeze
Aug12calm
Sep12calm
Oct12light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec12light breeze

Hazard calendar for Riyāḑ al Khabrā’

In seasonPeak

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

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid January, Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid November to late March, with a peak score in the third week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 20 · 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
Jan8.1ideal
Feb8.9ideal
Mar7.9ideal
Apr4.5fair
May1.2poor
Jun0.0poor
Jul0.0poor
Aug0.0poor
Sep0.2poor
Oct3.4poor
Nov7.7ideal
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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ for hot-weather activities run from mid 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 6 · 8.7

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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’, 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 43°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 20°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ sees daytime highs around 43°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ peaks around July 17 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 5 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecHighVery highVery highExtremeVery highHighJul 17UV 12Dec 18UV 5
UV index (midday)Level
Jan6High
Feb7Very high
Mar9Very high
Apr7High
May10Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep10Very high
Oct9Very high
Nov6High
Dec5Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’

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 6.5 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)
Jan50
Feb63
Mar74.5
Apr6.53
May85.5
Jun8.56
Jul8.56.5
Aug85.5
Sep7.55
Oct6.54
Nov5.50
Dec4.50

Air quality in Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ is worst in March — around 79 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 1.9× the cleanest month (July, 41 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorMar 2077 µg/m³Jul 2441 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan55Poor
Feb61Unhealthy
Mar79Unhealthy
Apr71Unhealthy
May70Unhealthy
Jun45Poor
Jul41Poor
Aug41Poor
Sep41Poor
Oct42Poor
Nov50Poor
Dec54Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ 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
Jan970
Feb990
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. Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ banks about 5,714 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan120
Feb180
Mar330
Apr474
May652
Jun716
Jul769
Aug777
Sep674
Oct537
Nov313
Dec170

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.

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ receives about 6.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.0 and 7.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Mar 14 to Oct 2. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.0 kWh/m² — roughly 49% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 77.8 kWhDec 244.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.2Bright
Feb5.3Bright
Mar6.2Intense
Apr7.1Intense
May7.7Intense
Jun7.8Intense
Jul7.6Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.7Intense
Oct5.7Bright
Nov4.5Bright
Dec4.0Moderate

Where is Riyāḑ al Khabrā’?

Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ sits at 26.1°N, 43.6°E, 658 m above sea level, in Saudi Arabia. The nearest listed city is Al Khabrā’, 7.0 km away.

Topography around Riyāḑ al Khabrā’

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Riyāḑ al Khabrā’.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 36 m around an average of 662 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 81 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 643 m.

The land around Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ is covered by bare terrain (65%) and artificial surfaces (30%) within 3 km, bare terrain (84%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (92%) within 80 km.

3 km
36 m
16 km
81 m
80 km
643 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Al Khabrā’ 7.0 km · Al Bukayrīyah 13 km · Al Badā’i‘ al Wusţá 20 km · Ar Rass 23 km · Unaizah 45 km · ‘Uyūn al Jiwā’ 49 km · Buraydah 51 km · Al Mithnab 71 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 Riyāḑ al Khabrā’ (26.0667°, 43.5534°, elevation 658 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).