Climate averages 1991–2020
Erbil weather
in May.
A hot, fairly dry month: the 5th warmest and the 5th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a hot month in Erbil: daytime highs average 30.7°C and nights cool to about 16.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 22 mm of rain on roughly 5 days, which makes May a fairly dry month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 04 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Khasnahzān (12 km away). In May its highs average 29.1°C, 1.6°C cooler than Erbil, with 39 mm of rain.
Among the 59 cities listed in Iraq, Erbil ranks 46th of 59 for the warmest May highs and joint 46th of 59 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 59 cities is 35.2°C; Erbil is 4.5°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 6.9°C to 37.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 22 mm to 1.2 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Erbil climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11.6°C1.4°C | 1.4°C | 102 | 10.7 | 10.010 h |
| February | 13.3°C2.3°C | 2.3°C | 94 | 10.1 | 10.811 h |
| March | 17.7°C5.8°C | 5.8°C | 93 | 10.0 | 11.912 h |
| April | 23.7°C10.7°C | 10.7°C | 62 | 7.7 | 13.113 h |
| May, selected | 30.7°C16.4°C | 16.4°C | 22 | 4.6 | 14.114 h |
| June | 37.6°C22.0°C | 22.0°C | 1.2 | 0.4 | 14.615 h |
| July | 41.5°C25.9°C | 25.9°C | 0.3 | 0.1 | 14.414 h |
| August | 41.2°C25.5°C | 25.5°C | 0.2 | 0.1 | 13.514 h |
| September | 36.3°C20.8°C | 20.8°C | 0.7 | 0.2 | 12.412 h |
| October | 29.2°C15.7°C | 15.7°C | 26 | 3.1 | 11.311 h |
| November | 19.6°C8.0°C | 8.0°C | 64 | 6.6 | 10.310 h |
| December | 13.6°C3.3°C | 3.3°C | 87 | 8.4 | 9.710 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
May in nearby cities
- Khasnahzān in MayIraq · 12 kmHigh 29.1°C · Low 14.4°C · 39 mm rain
- Baḥarkah in MayIraq · 14 kmHigh 29.9°C · Low 15.8°C · 22 mm rain
- Xebat in MayIraq · 32 kmHigh 31.1°C · Low 16.6°C · 18 mm rain
- 'Ākra in MayIraq · 61 kmHigh 27.4°C · Low 13.6°C · 38 mm rain
- Soran in MayIraq · 70 kmHigh 25.5°C · Low 12.8°C · 60 mm rain
- Hajiawa in MayIraq · 71 kmHigh 27.9°C · Low 13.8°C · 42 mm rain
- Rānyah in MayIraq · 79 kmHigh 27.9°C · Low 14.7°C · 35 mm rain
- Al Mawşil al Jadīdah in MayIraq · 83 kmHigh 32.4°C · Low 17.9°C · 16 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Erbil) is explained once on the Erbil year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Baḥarkah lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.