What the weather is really like
Scroll down for the current readings, today’s hourly forecast and the seven-day outlook, alongside notes on what each season really feels like locally.
Expect about 110 mm of rain in a typical year and a big daily range: summer afternoons near 43 °C falling back to the high twenties overnight, winter days around 20 °C and dawns close to 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.
Put together, it makes for a predictable calendar — long months of dry heat, a handful of cool, pleasant weeks, and the odd dusty or wet day to break the pattern.
Long hours of strong sunshine define the climate as much as the heat does. The UV index regularly tips into the extreme band in summer and rarely falls to truly low levels, which makes shade and cover a sensible habit through the year.
Summer heat
High summer here is fierce and dry. Afternoons reach about 43 °C and the air stays very dry, easing only into the high twenties after dark. It is a season to slow down outdoors and let the cooler hours carry the day.
Winter
Winter brings the most comfortable weeks of the year. 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. It is the season for the desert and the outdoors, and the busiest stretch of the local calendar.
The shoulder seasons
Spring and autumn pass quickly. 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. A good spring rain can turn the surroundings briefly green before the heat returns.
When it rains
Rain is a rare event, almost all of it falling between November and April. When it comes it tends to arrive as a short, heavy burst rather than a steady soak, and because the paved ground sheds water fast, low streets and underpasses can flood for an hour or two before draining.
Check the precipitation-probability reading in the dashboard before heading out when the sky looks unsettled.
When it does rain, it is usually over within a few hours and quickly forgotten.
Wind, dust and the air
With humidity usually in single digits in summer, the heat here is the dry kind. What changes a day most is the wind: a brisk northerly in spring can raise dust that hazes the skyline and fouls the air for hours.
Live wind speed, gusts and direction sit in the dashboard above, next to the feels-like value and dew point.
On the worst dust days both visibility and air quality drop, and anyone sensitive should stay indoors.
Planning around the weather
In practice, treat the long hot season as something to manage — shade, sun cover and steady hydration — and the short winter as the reward, with warm afternoons and cold nights that call for a layer after dark. On dusty spring days, anyone with asthma or allergies should check the air quality before spending long outside.
If you live or work here, you learn the local trick early: run errands at dawn or after dark in summer, and make the most of every mild winter day.
One small habit goes a long way: glance at the live temperature, feels-like and UV at the top of the page before you commit to an outdoor plan, then scan the seven-day strip for any dust or rain on the horizon.
Late autumn through early spring is the pick of the year locally; the dashboard above updates automatically so the forecast is always there when you need it.