Climate and average weather in Khartoum

In Khartoum, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are hot, breezy, and clear.

Best: early January to mid February

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Khartoum typically varies from 17°C to 41°C, and is rarely below 12°C or above 44°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 Khartoum for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid February and early December to late December.

Hottest
May
41°
Coldest
Jan
17°
Wettest
Aug
24 mm
Driest
Jan
0 mm
Rain / yr
65 mm
17 wet days
Daylight
11.1–12.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
381 m
15.6°N
Clearest
Nov
9% cloud

Khartoum is capital city of Sudan.

Density
66/km²
people per km²

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

Khartoum 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 Khartoum, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.3 months, from April 4 to July 12, with daily high temperatures above 38°C. The hottest month of the year in Khartoum is May, with an average high of 41°C and low of 28°C.

The cool season lasts 2.1 months, from December 9 to February 9, with daily high temperatures below 32°C. The coldest month of the year in Khartoum is January, with an average low of 17°C and high of 30°C.

Days typically run about 13°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in March.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3017
Feb3218
Mar3621
Apr3925
May4128
Jun4028
Jul3827
Aug3727
Sep3827
Oct3827
Nov3522
Dec3118

How hot and cold Khartoum 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, Khartoum feels like about 41°C (around May 7). About 295 days a year carry some heat stress, and 131 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in May.

15°20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan30301617
Feb32321818
Mar36362121
Apr39392525
May41412828
Jun40402828
Jul39382727
Aug39372727
Sep39382727
Oct38382727
Nov35352222
Dec31311818

Average hourly temperature in Khartoum

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 41°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 17°C.

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

Khartoum 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
Jan30° / 17°0011.26.9
Feb32° / 18°0011.55.2
Mar36° / 21°0011.92.8
Apr39° / 25°00.112.30.5
May41° / 28°31.212.70.0
Jun40° / 28°31.212.90.1
Jul38° / 27°204.912.81.3
Aug37° / 27°245.912.51.9
Sep38° / 27°102.712.11.1
Oct38° / 27°4111.61.1
Nov35° / 22°0011.33.7
Dec31° / 18°0011.16.2

Chance of rain

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

Khartoum gets about 65 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 3.5 months, from around Jun 23 to Oct 8, peaking in August at about 23% 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 24 mm over about 6 wet days; January is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainAug 5 · 23%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr00
May31
Jun41
Jul165
Aug196
Sep93
Oct31
Nov00
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Khartoum collects about 65 mm of rain across 17 wet days — roughly 5 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 24 mm, while January is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 84% of the year’s total.

02550JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec03320241040
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr00
May31
Jun31
Jul205
Aug246
Sep103
Oct41
Nov00
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Khartoum, 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 September 20 and lasts for 8.1 months, ending around May 23. The clearest month is November, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 96% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 15 and lasts for 3.2 months, ending around September 19. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 28% 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 15 · 97%Aug 6 · 70%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan9010
Feb937
Mar946
Apr946
May9010
Jun8812
Jul7723
Aug7228
Sep8614
Oct928
Nov964
Dec928

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 1, brings about 12 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.27:246:34
Feb11.57:206:49
Mar11.97:036:56
Apr12.36:407:01
May12.76:247:08
Jun12.96:237:18
Jul12.86:307:21
Aug12.56:387:10
Sep12.16:426:47
Oct11.66:466:24
Nov11.36:576:13
Dec11.17:146:18

Sunny days

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

Khartoum averages about 24 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 14 and 28 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 8.6 months, from around Sep 24 to Jun 12. The sunniest month is November, with roughly 28 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is August, down near 15 sunny days — about 46% fewer than the November peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantNov 1528 daysAug 1014 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan25Brilliant
Feb23Brilliant
Mar27Brilliant
Apr27Brilliant
May26Brilliant
Jun22Bright
Jul17Bright
Aug15Mixed
Sep21Bright
Oct26Brilliant
Nov27Brilliant
Dec26Brilliant

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 Khartoum, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around June 16 to October 12. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 93% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 13 to June 15, 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 1 · 100%Aug 9 · 4%oppressivedrymuggyhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan10000000
Feb10000000
Mar10000000
Apr9811000
May78118210
Jun551621710
Jul13103135100
Aug252153181
Sep1815283360
Oct651413620
Nov9820000
Dec9910000

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 Khartoum is typically light breeze, near 17 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around Nov 3 to Apr 19. The windiest month is February, averaging about 20 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 21 to Nov 2, with October the calmest month at about 13 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyFeb 16 · 20 km/hOct 4 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan19light breeze
Feb20light breeze
Mar19light breeze
Apr17light breeze
May15light breeze
Jun15light breeze
Jul18light breeze
Aug17light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov18light breeze
Dec19light breeze

Hazard calendar for Khartoum

In seasonPeak

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

Khartoum sees seasonal dust haze (March–September), heaviest in June.

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

Best time to visit Khartoum

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 10 · 7.1

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
Jan6.8good
Feb5.2fair
Mar2.8poor
Apr0.6poor
May0.0poor
Jun0.1poor
Jul1.3poor
Aug1.9poor
Sep1.1poor
Oct1.1poor
Nov3.7fair
Dec6.2good

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 Khartoum for hot-weather activities is from mid November to early March, with a peak score in the second week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 10 · 9.3

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 Khartoum, 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 41°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 30°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In May, Khartoum sees daytime highs around 41°C and nights near 28°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Khartoum 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 Khartoum peaks around April 11 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 13 at about 7 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highExtremeVery highApr 11UV 12Dec 13UV 7
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul9Very high
Aug10Very high
Sep11Extreme
Oct10Very high
Nov8Very high
Dec7Very high

Average hourly UV index in Khartoum

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 April 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)
Jan74.5
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr86
May86
Jun86
Jul7.55
Aug7.55
Sep85.5
Oct75
Nov6.54
Dec6.53.5

Air quality in Khartoum 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 Khartoum is worst in March — around 73 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.5× the cleanest month (August, 29 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorUnhealthyMar 1372 µg/m³Aug 1230 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan71Unhealthy
Feb69Unhealthy
Mar73Unhealthy
Apr61Unhealthy
May56Unhealthy
Jun44Poor
Jul32Moderate
Aug29Moderate
Sep40Poor
Oct52Poor
Nov51Poor
Dec61Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Khartoum 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. Khartoum banks about 7,311 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)
Jan408
Feb428
Mar577
Apr666
May756
Jun730
Jul697
Aug670
Sep684
Oct698
Nov549
Dec447

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.

Khartoum receives about 6.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.6 and 7.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around Feb 18 to Jul 7. The brightest month is April, averaging about 7.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 5.6 kWh/m² — roughly 27% less than the April peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 217.7 kWhDec 205.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.8Bright
Feb6.5Intense
Mar7.2Intense
Apr7.7Intense
May7.4Intense
Jun7.0Intense
Jul6.4Intense
Aug6.3Intense
Sep6.4Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov6.0Bright
Dec5.6Bright

Where is Khartoum?

Khartoum sits at 15.6°N, 32.5°E, 381 m above sea level, in Sudan. The nearest listed city is Khartoum North, 11 km away.

Al HilāliyyaAl HasaheisaRufā‘aAl Manāqil

What Khartoum looks like

Topography around Khartoum

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Khartoum has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 14 m around an average of 384 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 33 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 190 m.

The land around Khartoum is covered by artificial surfaces (76%) within 3 km, artificial surfaces (45%), bare terrain (23%) and cropland (20%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (69%) within 80 km.

3 km
14 m
16 km
33 m
80 km
190 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Khartoum North 11 km · Omdurman 12 km · Al Qiţena 78 km · Al-Quṭaynah 96 km · Al Hilāliyya 101 km · Al Hasaheisa 121 km · Rufā‘a 126 km · Al Manāqil 153 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 Khartoum (15.5518°, 32.5324°, elevation 381 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).