Climate and average weather in El Obeid

In El Obeid, the summers are sweltering, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are hot and clear.

Best: early January to mid February

Over the course of the year, the temperature in El Obeid typically varies from 16°C to 39°C, and is rarely below 12°C or above 41°C. May is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit El Obeid for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid February and early December to late December.

Hottest
May
39°
Coldest
Jan
16°
Wettest
Aug
75 mm
Driest
Feb
0 mm
Rain / yr
224 mm
50 wet days
Daylight
11.2–12.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
573 m
13.2°N
Clearest
Nov
16% cloud

El Obeid is city and capital of North Kurdufan, Sudan.

Founded
1821

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

El Obeid 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 mid February.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 2.9 months, from March 31 to June 26, with daily high temperatures above 36°C. The hottest month of the year in El Obeid is May, with an average high of 39°C and low of 26°C.

The cool season lasts 1.9 months, from December 9 to February 3, with daily high temperatures below 30°C. The coldest month of the year in El Obeid is January, with an average low of 16°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in March.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2916
Feb3218
Mar3521
Apr3824
May3926
Jun3726
Jul3425
Aug3324
Sep3524
Oct3624
Nov3321
Dec3017

How hot and cold El Obeid 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, El Obeid feels like about 39°C (around May 2). About 279 days a year carry some heat stress, and 15 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in May.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan29291616
Feb31321818
Mar35352121
Apr38382424
May39392626
Jun38372626
Jul36342525
Aug35332424
Sep36352424
Oct36362424
Nov33332121
Dec30301717

Average hourly temperature in El Obeid

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 May afternoons, near 39°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 16°C.

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

El Obeid 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
Jan29° / 16°0011.37.4
Feb32° / 18°0011.65.7
Mar35° / 21°0011.93.4
Apr38° / 24°10.412.31.3
May39° / 26°113.512.60.7
Jun37° / 26°246.212.81.5
Jul34° / 25°6213.312.72.7
Aug33° / 24°7514.612.43.3
Sep35° / 24°419.212.12.8
Oct36° / 24°102.411.72.4
Nov33° / 21°0011.44.6
Dec30° / 17°0011.27.0

Chance of rain

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

El Obeid gets about 224 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 4.6 months, from around May 21 to Oct 7, peaking in August at about 51% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 1.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 75 mm over about 15 wet days; February is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 4 · 51%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr10
May114
Jun226
Jul4313
Aug4715
Sep309
Oct82
Nov00
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, El Obeid collects about 224 mm of rain across 50 wet days — roughly 19 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 75 mm, while February is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 80% of the year’s total.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec001112462754110
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr10
May114
Jun246
Jul6213
Aug7515
Sep419
Oct102
Nov00
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In El Obeid, 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 October 13 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around May 18. The clearest month is November, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 92% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 19 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around October 12. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 41% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNov 11 · 93%Aug 15 · 57%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8515
Feb8713
Mar8812
Apr8812
May8119
Jun7525
Jul6634
Aug5941
Sep7030
Oct8218
Nov928
Dec8911

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 12 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.37:296:47
Feb11.67:277:01
Mar11.97:127:06
Apr12.36:517:08
May12.66:377:14
Jun12.86:367:23
Jul12.76:447:26
Aug12.46:507:16
Sep12.16:516:56
Oct11.76:536:35
Nov11.47:036:26
Dec11.27:186:32

Sunny days

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

El Obeid averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 7.1 months, from around Oct 15 to May 19. The sunniest month is November, with roughly 25 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is August, down near 10 sunny days — about 62% fewer than the November peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantNov 925 daysAug 68 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan23Bright
Feb21Bright
Mar24Brilliant
Apr24Brilliant
May20Bright
Jun15Bright
Jul11Mixed
Aug10Mixed
Sep13Mixed
Oct20Bright
Nov25Brilliant
Dec25Brilliant

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 El Obeid, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.8 months, from around May 24 to October 16. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 97% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 17 to May 23, and March 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 4 · 100%Jul 28 · 0%oppressivedrymuggyhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr934300
May641114101
Jun181432352
Jul1214785
Aug0037423
Sep55126414
Oct501120181
Nov990100
Dec1000000

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 El Obeid is typically light breeze, near 14 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.1 months, from around Nov 3 to Apr 6. The windiest month is February, averaging about 16 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 6 to Nov 2, with September the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 12 · 16 km/hSep 29 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan16light breeze
Feb16light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May12calm
Jun14light breeze
Jul15light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep11calm
Oct12calm
Nov14light breeze
Dec15light breeze

Hazard calendar for El Obeid

In seasonPeak

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

El Obeid sees seasonal dust haze (March–July), heaviest in May.

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

Best time to visit El Obeid

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late January, El Obeid 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 El Obeid for general outdoor tourist activities is from early December to early February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 6 · 7.7

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
Jan7.4good
Feb5.7good
Mar3.4poor
Apr1.4poor
May0.8poor
Jun1.5poor
Jul2.7poor
Aug3.3poor
Sep2.8poor
Oct2.4poor
Nov4.6fair
Dec6.9good

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 El Obeid for hot-weather activities is from early November to mid March, with a peak score in the last week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 23 · 9.4

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 El Obeid, 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 May (highs near 39°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 29°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In May, El Obeid sees daytime highs around 39°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in El Obeid 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 El Obeid peaks around March 18 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 12 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highMar 18UV 13Dec 12UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul10Very high
Aug12Extreme
Sep11Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in El Obeid

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 March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 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)
Jan75
Feb7.56
Mar86
Apr86
May85.5
Jun86
Jul85.5
Aug86
Sep7.55.5
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec6.54

Air quality in El Obeid 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 El Obeid is worst in March — around 58 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 4.0× the cleanest month (August, 14 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorPoorModeratePoorMar 1556 µg/m³Aug 2015 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan47Poor
Feb49Poor
Mar58Unhealthy
Apr46Poor
May36Poor
Jun25Moderate
Jul19Moderate
Aug14Moderate
Sep16Moderate
Oct30Moderate
Nov30Moderate
Dec41Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

El Obeid 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. El Obeid banks about 6,600 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan379
Feb407
Mar553
Apr627
May693
Jun650
Jul602
Aug566
Sep580
Oct627
Nov507
Dec409

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.

El Obeid receives about 6.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.8 and 7.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.2 months, from around Feb 7 to Jun 14. The brightest month is April, averaging about 7.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 5.9 kWh/m² — roughly 22% less than the April peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 137.6 kWhAug 45.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.1Intense
Feb6.6Intense
Mar7.3Intense
Apr7.6Intense
May7.1Intense
Jun6.5Intense
Jul6.0Bright
Aug5.9Bright
Sep6.2Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov6.2Intense
Dec5.8Bright

Where is El Obeid?

El Obeid sits at 13.2°N, 30.2°E, 573 m above sea level, in Sudan. The nearest listed city is Bārah, 60 km away.

Umm RuwabaAbū ZabadDillingTandaltīAn NuhūdAbu Jibeha

Topography around El Obeid

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around El Obeid has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 27 m around an average of 574 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 90 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 308 m.

The land around El Obeid is covered by artificial surfaces (73%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, grassland (62%) and cropland (31%) within 16 km, and grassland (72%) and cropland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
27 m
16 km
90 m
80 km
308 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Bārah 60 km · Ar Rahad 70 km · Umm Ruwaba 113 km · Abū Zabad 140 km · Dilling 140 km · Tandaltī 180 km · An Nuhūd 201 km · Abu Jibeha 221 km

Sudan travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type C / D / F / G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 215% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,165
2025
Happiness
4.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2017
Homicide rate
5.1
per 100k, 2008
Road deaths
26.8
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 421

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 El Obeid (13.1842°, 30.2167°, elevation 573 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).