What the weather is really like
On this page you’ll find live conditions for the area right now, an hour-by-hour outlook and a full week ahead, followed by a plain-spoken guide to the local seasons.
Across an average year only about 110 mm of rain reaches this part of the city, nearly all of it between late autumn and spring. Mid-summer afternoons climb to around 43 °C, while January days hover near 20 °C and the nights drop to roughly 8 °C.
Villas and low apartment blocks, walled gardens and wide streets store the day’s heat and give it back slowly, so a summer night here can sit a degree or two above the open desert at the city’s rim.
Day to day that means a wide gap between a hot afternoon and a cool dawn, near-constant sun, and weather that rarely surprises outside the spring dust season.
The sun is relentless here. Clear skies for the great majority of the year push the UV index high to extreme right through summer, and it stays moderate even in the depths of winter, so sun protection earns its place almost year-round.
In summer
Summer is the long, dominant season. Afternoons reach about 43 °C and the air stays very dry, easing only into the high twenties after dark. The middle of the day is for shade or air conditioning; step out in the morning or once the sun is low.
The cool season
The cool season is brief but genuinely pleasant. Days run near 20 °C under mostly clear skies, but the same clear skies let the nights turn cold, down to around 8 °C, so an extra layer is worth having once the sun sets. Mornings can start cold and clear before warming into a near-perfect afternoon.
Between the seasons
Autumn and spring bookend the heat. Temperatures are agreeable, but spring is the time to watch the dust forecast: a strong northerly can haze the streets and coat the cars within an hour. They are short, so they are easy to miss between the long summer and the cool winter.
Rain & storms
Measurable rain is uncommon and strongly seasonal; summer is effectively dry. A single spring thunderstorm can drop a big share of the year’s total in one go, so it pays to glance at the rain-chance figure above on an unsettled day.
The forecast strips above flag the days when a shower or storm is on the cards.
Either way, a wet day here is the exception rather than the rule, and it rarely lasts long.
Wind and dust
Humidity stays very low for most of the year, so the heat is dry rather than sticky — easier to bear than a humid coast, but quick to dehydrate you. The real hazard is dust: spring’s northerly winds can lift sweeping dust storms that cut visibility and push the air-quality reading sharply higher.
The panel above tracks wind, gusts, feels-like and air quality as they change through the day.
Most of the time, though, the air is clear, dry and calm enough to barely register.
Making the most of it
The simple rule is heat in summer, cold nights in winter, dust in spring. Plan outdoor time for early morning or after sunset through the hot months, pack something warm for the cool season, and keep an eye on the dust outlook when the wind picks up.
For families, the parks and squares come alive in the cool season; in summer they empty out until the heat eases after sunset.
The dashboard above is built to answer the everyday questions — has it cooled off yet, is dust on the way, will it rain this week — so a quick look before you head out usually settles the plan for the day.
The cool months from roughly November to March are the best time to be out and about here; whatever the season, the live readings and forecast on this page keep you a step ahead.