Climate averages 1991–2020
Sulaymaniyah weather
in January.
A cool, wet month: the coolest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a cool month in Sulaymaniyah: daytime highs average 9.0°C and nights cool to about -0.8°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 131 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes January a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 03 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Bāneh (63 km away). In January its highs average 2.9°C, 6.1°C cooler than Sulaymaniyah, with 115 mm of rain.
Among the 59 cities listed in Iraq, Sulaymaniyah ranks 55th of 59 for the warmest January highs and 54th of 59 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 59 cities is 14.5°C; Sulaymaniyah is 5.5°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 1.7°C to 10.7°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 131 mm to 132 mm.
The annual picture
January 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
Sulaymaniyah climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | 9.0°C-0.8°C | -0.8°C | 131 | 12.1 | 10.010 h |
| February | 10.7°C-0.1°C | -0.1°C | 132 | 12.1 | 10.911 h |
| March | 15.5°C3.5°C | 3.5°C | 121 | 11.7 | 11.912 h |
| April | 21.1°C8.0°C | 8.0°C | 88 | 10.1 | 13.113 h |
| May | 27.6°C12.9°C | 12.9°C | 30 | 5.2 | 14.014 h |
| June | 34.6°C18.4°C | 18.4°C | 0.9 | 0.3 | 14.515 h |
| July | 39.0°C22.4°C | 22.4°C | 0.1 | 0.0 | 14.314 h |
| August | 39.1°C22.3°C | 22.3°C | 0.1 | 0.0 | 13.514 h |
| September | 34.1°C17.9°C | 17.9°C | 1.0 | 0.3 | 12.412 h |
| October | 26.9°C12.7°C | 12.7°C | 38 | 3.8 | 11.311 h |
| November | 17.2°C5.4°C | 5.4°C | 83 | 7.8 | 10.310 h |
| December | 11.5°C1.1°C | 1.1°C | 108 | 10.1 | 9.810 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
January in nearby cities
- Bāneh in JanuaryIran · 63 kmHigh 2.9°C · Low -5.5°C · 115 mm rain
- Marīvān in JanuaryIran · 68 kmHigh 4.9°C · Low -6.0°C · 112 mm rain
- Qeładizê in JanuaryIraq · 74 kmHigh 8.5°C · Low -1.1°C · 155 mm rain
- Rānyah in JanuaryIraq · 91 kmHigh 8.7°C · Low -0.8°C · 152 mm rain
- Hajiawa in JanuaryIraq · 94 kmHigh 9.4°C · Low -0.5°C · 158 mm rain
- Kirkuk in JanuaryIraq · 95 kmHigh 12.8°C · Low 3.8°C · 88 mm rain
- Ţūz Khūrmātū in JanuaryIraq · 105 kmHigh 13.7°C · Low 4.6°C · 75 mm rain
- Kelar in JanuaryIraq · 105 kmHigh 14.0°C · Low 4.7°C · 99 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 Sulaymaniyah) is explained once on the Sulaymaniyah year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.