Climate and average weather in El Kef

In El Kef, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are cool and partly cloudy.

Best: mid March to late May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in El Kef typically varies from 5°C to 36°C, and is rarely below 1°C or above 41°C. July 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 Kef for warm-weather activities are from mid March to late May and late September to late November.

Hottest
Jul
36°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Mar
45 mm
Driest
Jul
6 mm
Rain / yr
366 mm
72 wet days
Daylight
9.5–14.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
627 m
36.2°N
Clearest
Jul
15% cloud

El Kef 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 mid March to late May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in El Kef, 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 June 7 to September 15, with daily high temperatures above 31°C. The hottest month of the year in El Kef is July, with an average high of 36°C and low of 21°C.

The cool season lasts 3.8 months, from November 23 to March 18, with daily high temperatures below 18°C. The coldest month of the year in El Kef is January, with an average low of 5°C and high of 14°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in July.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan145
Feb155
Mar187
Apr2210
May2714
Jun3218
Jul3621
Aug3521
Sep3118
Oct2614
Nov2010
Dec166

How hot and cold El Kef 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 Kef feels like about 36°C (around July 25). About 85 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan141435
Feb151535
Mar181857
Apr2222910
May27271414
Jun32321818
Jul36362121
Aug35352121
Sep31311818
Oct26261414
Nov2020910
Dec161646

Average hourly temperature in El Kef

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 36°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

El Kef 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
Jan14° / 437.69.84.5
Feb15° / 377.810.64.9
Mar18° / 458.511.76.2
Apr22° / 10°43812.97.0
May27° / 14°306.213.97.2
Jun32° / 18°163.114.44.7
Jul36° / 21°61.714.22.9
Aug35° / 21°133.713.43.0
Sep31° / 18°306.212.25.3
Oct26° / 14°325.711.17.5
Nov20° / 10°366.310.16.9
Dec16° / 366.89.65.3

Chance of rain

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

El Kef gets about 366 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.6 months, from around Nov 25 to May 14, peaking in March at about 29% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 22.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 45 mm over about 9 wet days; July is the driest, with 6 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetMar 6 · 29%Jul 22 · 5%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan258
Feb288
Mar289
Apr278
May206
Jun113
Jul62
Aug124
Sep206
Oct196
Nov206
Dec217

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, El Kef collects about 366 mm of rain across 72 wet days — roughly 31 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 45 mm, while July is the driest at just 6 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 36% of the year’s total.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec43374543301661330323636
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan438
Feb378
Mar459
Apr438
May306
Jun163
Jul62
Aug134
Sep306
Oct326
Nov366
Dec367

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In El Kef, 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 May 29 and lasts for 3.8 months, ending around September 21. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 96% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 22 and lasts for 8.2 months, ending around May 28. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 46% 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 21 · 98%Dec 27 · 53%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5446
Feb5743
Mar6040
Apr6139
May6634
Jun8317
Jul964
Aug928
Sep7426
Oct6436
Nov5941
Dec5644

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 17, brings about 14 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around December 17, only 9 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 5 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.87:415:28
Feb10.67:215:59
Mar11.76:436:26
Apr12.95:586:53
May13.95:247:19
Jun14.45:127:39
Jul14.25:247:38
Aug13.45:487:11
Sep12.26:136:26
Oct11.16:385:42
Nov10.17:095:12
Dec9.67:355:08

Sunny days

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

El Kef averages about 15 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 28 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.0 months, from around May 22 to Sep 20. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 27 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is December, down near 10 sunny days — about 63% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2128 daysDec 239 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr12Mixed
May15Mixed
Jun20Bright
Jul27Brilliant
Aug24Brilliant
Sep16Bright
Oct14Mixed
Nov11Mixed
Dec10Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around June 12 to October 12. The muggiest month is September, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 33% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 13 to June 11, 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 22 · 100%Sep 6 · 62%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr96400
May811810
Jun593190
Jul4140172
Aug2740286
Sep2938285
Oct632980
Nov95500
Dec100000

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.

Wind in El Kef is steady company: average speeds sit near 8 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeFeb 2 · 10 km/hAug 22 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan9calm
Feb9calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May8calm
Jun8calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct8calm
Nov9calm
Dec9calm

Hazard calendar for El Kef

In seasonPeak

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

El Kef sees seasonal dust haze (June), heaviest in June.

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

Best time to visit El Kef

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late March, El Kef 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 times of year to visit El Kef for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid March to late May and again from late September to late November, with a peak score in the last week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 26 · 7.8

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
Jan4.6fair
Feb4.9fair
Mar6.2good
Apr7.0good
May7.1good
Jun4.8fair
Jul3.0poor
Aug3.0poor
Sep5.3fair
Oct7.4good
Nov6.9good
Dec5.3fair

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 El Kef for hot-weather activities run from early May to late July and again from mid August to late October, with a peak score in the first week of June.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 1 · 8.0

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 El Kef, 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 36°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 14°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, El Kef sees daytime highs around 36°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in El Kef 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 Kef peaks around July 16 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateJul 16UV 10Dec 21UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar6High
Apr5High
May8Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug8Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in El Kef

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)
Jan00
Feb40
Mar5.50
Apr60
May7.54
Jun85
Jul8.56
Aug7.54.5
Sep6.53.5
Oct50
Nov20
Dec00

Air quality in El Kef 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 Kef is worst in September — around 24 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateSep 1724 µg/m³Dec 2118 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan18Moderate
Feb19Moderate
Mar21Moderate
Apr24Moderate
May22Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul21Moderate
Aug22Moderate
Sep24Moderate
Oct22Moderate
Nov20Moderate
Dec17Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

El Kef 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
Jan950
Feb970
Mar990
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec980

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 Kef banks about 3,064 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb7
Mar78
Apr171
May320
Jun454
Jul563
Aug562
Sep431
Oct311
Nov139
Dec28

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 Kef receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 and 7.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 20. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 69% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 47.6 kWhDec 192.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.6Moderate
Feb3.5Moderate
Mar4.8Bright
Apr5.9Bright
May6.7Intense
Jun7.3Intense
Jul7.6Intense
Aug6.6Intense
Sep5.1Bright
Oct3.9Moderate
Nov2.8Moderate
Dec2.3Moderate

Where is El Kef?

El Kef sits at 36.2°N, 8.7°E, 627 m above sea level, in Tunisia. The nearest listed city is Dahmani, 28 km away.

OuenzaTabursuqSilianaThala

Topography around El Kef

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around El Kef has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 463 m around an average of 604 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 867 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,407 m.

The land around El Kef is covered by cropland (42%) and artificial surfaces (27%) within 3 km, cropland (58%) and grassland (20%) within 16 km, and cropland (48%) and grassland (27%) within 80 km.

3 km
463 m
16 km
867 m
80 km
1,407 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Dahmani 28 km · Tajerouine 34 km · Jendouba 37 km · Ghardimaou 39 km · Ouenza 57 km · Tabursuq 58 km · Siliana 61 km · Thala 67 km

Tunisia travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 29% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$4,657
2025
Happiness
4.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
65%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
4.7
per 100k, 2020
Road deaths
16.5
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 498
Religion
Muslim 99%

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 Kef (36.1742°, 8.7049°, elevation 627 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).