Climate and average weather in Gafsa

In Gafsa, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are cool and mostly clear.

Best: late February to mid May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Gafsa typically varies from 5°C to 37°C, and is rarely below 1°C or above 42°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 Gafsa for warm-weather activities are from late February to mid May and early October to early December.

Hottest
Jul
37°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Nov
18 mm
Driest
Jul
2 mm
Rain / yr
135 mm
27 wet days
Daylight
9.7–14.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
295 m
34.4°N
Clearest
Jul
11% cloud

Gafsa 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 late February to mid May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.6 months, from June 2 to September 17, with daily high temperatures above 32°C. The hottest month of the year in Gafsa is July, with an average high of 37°C and low of 24°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 20 to March 9, with daily high temperatures below 19°C. The coldest month of the year in Gafsa is January, with an average low of 5°C and high of 14°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in July.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan145
Feb166
Mar209
Apr2412
May2917
Jun3421
Jul3724
Aug3724
Sep3221
Oct2716
Nov2010
Dec156

How hot and cold Gafsa 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, Gafsa feels like about 37°C (around July 26). About 104 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan141435
Feb161636
Mar202079
Apr24241212
May29291717
Jun34342121
Jul37372424
Aug36372424
Sep32322121
Oct26271616
Nov2020910
Dec151546

Average hourly temperature in Gafsa

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 37°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Gafsa 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° / 142.7105.3
Feb16° / 112.310.76.4
Mar20° / 163.111.77.7
Apr24° / 12°152.612.88.4
May29° / 17°9213.86.8
Jun34° / 21°41.114.33.9
Jul37° / 24°20.814.12.0
Aug37° / 24°61.613.32.3
Sep32° / 21°153.112.25.0
Oct27° / 16°132.711.18.0
Nov20° / 10°182.510.27.8
Dec15° / 112.39.76.0

Chance of rain

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

Gafsa gets about 135 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, and that barely changes with the seasons — rain is spread fairly evenly through the year.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 18 mm over about 3 wet days; July is the driest, with 2 mm.

0%10%20%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmostly drysome rainSep 27 · 12%Jul 5 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan93
Feb82
Mar103
Apr93
May62
Jun41
Jul31
Aug62
Sep103
Oct93
Nov83
Dec72

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Gafsa collects about 135 mm of rain across 27 wet days — roughly 11 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 18 mm, while July is the driest at just 2 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 37% of the year’s total.

025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec14111615942615131811
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan143
Feb112
Mar163
Apr153
May92
Jun41
Jul21
Aug62
Sep153
Oct133
Nov183
Dec112

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Gafsa, 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 June 4 and lasts for 3.5 months, ending around September 19. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 99% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 20 and lasts for 8.4 months, ending around June 3. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 25% 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 25 · 100%Jan 19 · 73%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7525
Feb7723
Mar7525
Apr7624
May7624
Jun8911
Jul991
Aug964
Sep8416
Oct7525
Nov7525
Dec7822

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 11, brings about 14 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.07:365:32
Feb10.77:186:01
Mar11.76:436:27
Apr12.85:596:51
May13.85:277:15
Jun14.35:167:34
Jul14.15:287:33
Aug13.35:507:08
Sep12.26:136:26
Oct11.16:365:44
Nov10.27:055:15
Dec9.77:305:12

Sunny days

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

Gafsa averages about 21 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 17 and 29 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.3 months, from around Jun 6 to Sep 14. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 29 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is March, down near 18 sunny days — about 39% fewer than the July peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2229 daysMar 917 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan19Bright
Feb18Bright
Mar18Bright
Apr18Bright
May19Bright
Jun23Brilliant
Jul29Brilliant
Aug28Brilliant
Sep20Bright
Oct18Bright
Nov18Bright
Dec20Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around July 8 to October 20. The muggiest month is September, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 39% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 21 to July 7, 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 18 · 100%Sep 5 · 56%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr98200
May91900
Jun772020
Jul4937130
Aug2738305
Sep2932327
Oct6126122
Nov94510
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Gafsa is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.1 months, from around Feb 8 to Jul 11. The windiest month is April, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 12 to Feb 7, with October the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeApr 24 · 13 km/hOct 29 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb11calm
Mar12light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May13light breeze
Jun12light breeze
Jul11calm
Aug10calm
Sep10calm
Oct10calm
Nov10calm
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for Gafsa

In seasonPeak

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

Gafsa sees seasonal dust haze (April–July), heaviest in April.

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

Best time to visit Gafsa

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early March, Gafsa 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 Gafsa for general outdoor tourist activities run from late February to mid May and again from early October to early December, with a peak score in the third week of April.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationApr 15 · 8.6

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
Jan5.4fair
Feb6.4good
Mar7.7ideal
Apr8.4ideal
May6.8good
Jun3.9fair
Jul2.0poor
Aug2.4poor
Sep5.1fair
Oct7.9ideal
Nov7.8ideal
Dec6.0good

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 Gafsa for hot-weather activities run from mid April to late June and again from late August to late October, with a peak score in the third week of May.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 15 · 8.6

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 Gafsa, 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 37°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, Gafsa sees daytime highs around 37°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Gafsa 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 Gafsa peaks around June 21 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 23 at about 3 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateJun 21UV 10Dec 23UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar6High
Apr5High
May8Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Gafsa

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 June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5.5 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)
Jan00
Feb4.50
Mar61
Apr60
May7.54
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.55
Sep74
Oct5.50.5
Nov30
Dec00

Air quality in Gafsa 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 Gafsa is worst in April — around 37 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModeratePoorModerateApr 1837 µg/m³Jul 2427 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan32Moderate
Feb29Moderate
Mar32Moderate
Apr37Poor
May34Moderate
Jun33Moderate
Jul27Moderate
Aug27Moderate
Sep28Moderate
Oct29Moderate
Nov30Moderate
Dec28Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Gafsa 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
Jan980
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. Gafsa banks about 3,613 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
Feb29
Mar135
Apr245
May402
Jun531
Jul638
Aug624
Sep485
Oct347
Nov151
Dec26

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.

Gafsa receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.9 and 7.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 16 to Sep 20. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.9 kWh/m² — roughly 62% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 297.9 kWhDec 182.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.3Moderate
Feb4.3Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr6.7Intense
May7.3Intense
Jun7.7Intense
Jul7.7Intense
Aug6.9Intense
Sep5.7Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov3.4Moderate
Dec2.9Moderate

Where is Gafsa?

Gafsa sits at 34.4°N, 8.8°E, 295 m above sea level, in Tunisia. The nearest listed city is El Ksar, 3.0 km away.

MoularèsAr RudayyifFerianaBir el AterKebiliTozeur

Topography around Gafsa

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Gafsa has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 242 m around an average of 307 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 959 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,378 m.

The land around Gafsa is covered by artificial surfaces (39%), bare terrain (34%) and trees (23%) within 3 km, bare terrain (72%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (69%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
242 m
16 km
959 m
80 km
1,378 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: El Ksar 3.0 km · Metlaoui 37 km · Moularès 48 km · Ar Rudayyif 58 km · Feriana 61 km · Bir el Ater 75 km · Kebili 82 km · Tozeur 82 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 Gafsa (34.425°, 8.7842°, elevation 295 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).