What the weather is really like
This page gathers the live picture for As-Sulayyil now, an hour-by-hour outlook and a seven-day forecast, with a grounded guide to the local seasons.
In an average year only about 70 mm of rain falls, almost all between November and April. Peak-summer afternoons reach around 45 °C; winter days sit near 24 °C with nights dropping to about 9 °C.
This is the hot, open south of the Region, where gravel plains and oasis farmland give way toward the great sands of the Empty Quarter. Shade is scarce and the ground bakes hard under months of sun.
Day to day that means strong sun, a wide swing from afternoon to dawn, and few surprises beyond the spring dust and the rare heavy storm.
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.
The wide horizon makes the weather easy to read here: you can see a dust front coming from far off, and storm clouds gather over the plain well before they arrive.
In summer
Summer is long, dry and severe. Afternoons climb to about 45 °C under a hard sun, with very dry air; nights fall back toward 29 °C. Work and travel are best kept to the early morning and the cool of the evening.
The cool season
The cool months are the kindest time of year. Days run near 24 °C, but the clear desert sky lets the temperature fall to around 9 °C after dark. It’s comfortably the best stretch of the year for being outdoors.
Between the seasons
Spring is the restless one of the two shoulders. Spring brings spring, on the edge of the Empty Quarter and the year’s most active rain, greening the desert for a few weeks; autumn is the calmer, settled side of the year.
Rain & storms
Don’t count on rain: the yearly total is tiny and summer is effectively dry. But when a cool-season or spring system does cross, it can dump a large share of the annual rainfall in an hour, sending water down the wadis.
The seven-day strip flags any wet or stormy days on the way.
Outside those few wet spells, the sky here stays clear and the ground bone dry for months on end.
Wind and dust
Humidity is very low, so the heat is dry rather than muggy, though that dryness makes water essential. The main hazard is dust: northerly winds, strongest in spring, raise dust storms across the open desert that cut visibility and spike the air-quality reading.
The panel above tracks wind, gusts and air quality as the day goes on.
Most days, though, the dry air is clear and the wind no more than a light breeze.
Making the most of it
If you’re heading out here, the early morning and the evening are your friends in summer; winter days are made for it, but the nights bite, so dress for both. On dusty spring days, those sensitive to dust should keep an eye on the air quality first.
On a desert trip or camp, the cool season is ideal; just carry enough warmth for the nights, which drop sharply once the sun is down on this open ground.
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 about November to March are the time to come; whatever the season, the live readings and forecast on this page keep you ahead of the weather.