Climate and average weather in Ruwais

In Ruwais, the summers are muggy, sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are warm and mostly clear.

Best: early January to mid March

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Ruwais typically varies from 14°C to 42°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 45°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 Ruwais for warm-weather activities are from early January to mid March and mid November to late December.

Hottest
Aug
42°
Coldest
Jan
14°
Wettest
Mar
12 mm
Driest
May
0 mm
Rain / yr
40 mm
7 wet days
Daylight
10.5–13.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
16 m
24.1°N
Clearest
Sep
5% cloud

Ruwais is human settlement.

Founded
1970

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

Ruwais 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 March.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 5.0 months, from May 3 to October 1, with daily high temperatures above 37°C. The hottest month of the year in Ruwais is August, with an average high of 42°C and low of 29°C.

The cool season lasts 2.9 months, from December 4 to February 28, with daily high temperatures below 26°C. The coldest month of the year in Ruwais is January, with an average low of 14°C and high of 23°C.

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

10°20°30°40°50°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2314
Feb2515
Mar2917
Apr3421
May3925
Jun4027
Jul4229
Aug4229
Sep3927
Oct3524
Nov3020
Dec2516

How hot and cold Ruwais 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, Ruwais feels like about 50°C (around August 15). About 218 days a year carry some heat stress, and 148 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in August.

10°20°30°40°50°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan23231414
Feb25251515
Mar29291717
Apr34342121
May39392525
Jun43402727
Jul47422929
Aug50422929
Sep46392727
Oct38352424
Nov30302020
Dec25251616

Average hourly temperature in Ruwais

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 42°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 14°C.

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

Ruwais 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
Jan23° / 14°81.610.78.7
Feb25° / 15°71.111.29.1
Mar29° / 17°121.511.87.3
Apr34° / 21°40.712.53.9
May39° / 25°0013.20.8
Jun40° / 27°0013.50.0
Jul42° / 29°20.113.30.0
Aug42° / 29°00.112.80.0
Sep39° / 27°0012.10.6
Oct35° / 24°00.111.43.3
Nov30° / 20°20.410.87.0
Dec25° / 16°40.910.58.9

Chance of rain

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

Ruwais gets about 40 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.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 12 mm over about 2 wet days; May is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmostly drysome rainJan 20 · 6%May 12 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan52
Feb41
Mar52
Apr21
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov10
Dec31

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Ruwais collects about 40 mm of rain across 7 wet days — roughly 3 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 12 mm, while May is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 67% of the year’s total.

025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec8712400200024
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan82
Feb71
Mar122
Apr41
May00
Jun00
Jul20
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov20
Dec41

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Ruwais, 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 August 8 and lasts for 3.6 months, ending around November 25. 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 26 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around May 8. The cloudiest month is April, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 18% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 27 · 100%Jan 12 · 79%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8218
Feb8812
Mar8218
Apr8218
May928
Jun982
Jul928
Aug937
Sep991
Oct973
Nov937
Dec8416

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 10, brings about 13 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 3 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.77:195:58
Feb11.27:096:19
Mar11.86:446:34
Apr12.56:126:46
May13.25:507:00
Jun13.55:457:14
Jul13.35:547:15
Aug12.86:086:59
Sep12.16:196:28
Oct11.46:315:57
Nov10.86:505:39
Dec10.57:105:41

Sunny days

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

Ruwais averages about 25 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 19 and 30 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.5 months, from around Aug 9 to Nov 23. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 30 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is January, down near 21 sunny days — about 30% fewer than the September peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2730 daysJan 1219 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan21Bright
Feb22Brilliant
Mar22Bright
Apr21Bright
May27Brilliant
Jun28Brilliant
Jul26Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep29Brilliant
Oct29Brilliant
Nov26Brilliant
Dec22Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around May 23 to November 25. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 98% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 26 to May 22, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 93% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 25 · 96%Aug 14 · 2%miserablehumidoppressivemuggycomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan68257000
Feb74197000
Mar632212300
Apr502818400
May2627281530
Jun8112129237
Jul2612272924
Aug026163046
Sep136203733
Oct161937325
Nov824372740
Dec323924500

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 Ruwais is typically light breeze, near 14 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Jan 12 to Jul 23. The windiest month is March, averaging about 16 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 24 to Jan 11, with October the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMar 21 · 16 km/hOct 22 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan14light breeze
Feb15light breeze
Mar16light breeze
Apr15light breeze
May15light breeze
Jun15light breeze
Jul14light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep12calm
Oct12calm
Nov13light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Hazard calendar for Ruwais

In seasonPeak

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

Ruwais sits in the North Indian Ocean cyclone zone; the season peaks May and October–November.

Ruwais sees seasonal dust haze (March–August), heaviest in July.

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

Best time to visit Ruwais

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early March, Ruwais 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 Ruwais for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid November to mid March, with a peak score in the second week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 8 · 9.2

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
Jan8.7ideal
Feb9.0ideal
Mar7.3good
Apr3.9fair
May0.9poor
Jun0.0poor
Jul0.0poor
Aug0.0poor
Sep0.7poor
Oct3.3poor
Nov7.0good
Dec8.9ideal

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 Ruwais for hot-weather activities run from early February to mid April and again from late October to late December, with a peak score in the third week of November.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 17 · 9.2

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 Ruwais, 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 42°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 23°C), pack light clothes.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Ruwais sees daytime highs around 42°C and nights near 29°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

Sea temperature near Ruwais

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 34°C and coldest in February near 20°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan21Refreshing
Feb20Refreshing
Mar22Refreshing
Apr25Warm
May29Tropical
Jun31Tropical
Jul33Tropical
Aug34Tropical
Sep33Tropical
Oct31Tropical
Nov28Warm
Dec24Refreshing

UV index (midday) in Ruwais 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 Ruwais peaks around May 20 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 5 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecHighVery highHighMay 20UV 10Dec 17UV 5
UV index (midday)Level
Jan6High
Feb9Very high
Mar9Very high
Apr9Very high
May10Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug10Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct8Very high
Nov6High
Dec5Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Ruwais

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 May the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 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)
Jan5.51.5
Feb6.54
Mar74.5
Apr7.55
May85.5
Jun85.5
Jul85
Aug7.55
Sep74
Oct6.54
Nov5.51.5
Dec4.50

Air quality in Ruwais 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 Ruwais is worst in July — around 85 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.5× the cleanest month (November, 35 µg/m³).

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

0306090JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorUnhealthyPoorModerateJul 2084 µg/m³Nov 2335 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan42Poor
Feb51Poor
Mar61Unhealthy
Apr60Unhealthy
May65Unhealthy
Jun69Unhealthy
Jul85Unhealthy
Aug79Unhealthy
Sep58Unhealthy
Oct45Poor
Nov35Moderate
Dec35Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Ruwais 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. Ruwais banks about 6,480 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)
Jan256
Feb269
Mar403
Apr528
May680
Jun712
Jul784
Aug791
Sep692
Oct602
Nov442
Dec321

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.

Ruwais receives about 6.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.2 and 7.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Mar 12 to Sep 30. The brightest month is May, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.3 kWh/m² — roughly 44% less than the May peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 217.7 kWhDec 204.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.4Bright
Feb5.4Bright
Mar6.3Intense
Apr7.1Intense
May7.7Intense
Jun7.5Intense
Jul7.2Intense
Aug7.0Intense
Sep6.5Intense
Oct5.8Bright
Nov4.8Bright
Dec4.2Bright

Where is Ruwais?

Ruwais sits at 24.1°N, 52.7°E, 16 m above sea level, in United Arab Emirates. The nearest listed city is Zayed City, 111 km away.

Zayed CityMesaieedAl WakrahAth Thumāmah KhamsūnAth Thumāmah Sab‘ah wa Arba‘ūnAbu DhabiAth Thumāmah Sittah wa Arba‘ūnAl Maţār al ‘Atīq

Topography around Ruwais

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ruwais has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 37 m around an average of 11 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 115 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 162 m.

The land around Ruwais is covered by bare terrain (69%) and artificial surfaces (30%) within 3 km, bare terrain (61%) and water (33%) within 16 km, and water (51%) and bare terrain (48%) within 80 km.

3 km
37 m
16 km
115 m
80 km
162 m
shrubsartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Zayed City 111 km · Mesaieed 154 km · Al Wakrah 164 km · Ath Thumāmah Khamsūn 171 km · Ath Thumāmah Sab‘ah wa Arba‘ūn 172 km · Abu Dhabi 173 km · Ath Thumāmah Sittah wa Arba‘ūn 173 km · Al Maţār al ‘Atīq 174 km

United Arab Emirates travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 63% of US
price level, 2024
GDP per capita
$50,274
2024
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
99%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
8.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 487

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 Ruwais (24.1103°, 52.7306°, elevation 16 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).