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Basra, Iraq's southern port city, sits on the Shatt al-Arab waterway where the Tigris and Euphrates join, on a flat, low-lying plain near the Persian Gulf at approximately 30.51°N, 47.78°E. It has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — with some of the most extreme summer heat recorded anywhere on earth — and short, mild winters with modest rain.
Summer, from May to October, is extraordinarily hot, with highs routinely around 46–47°C in July and August and readings that have exceeded 51°C — among the hottest anywhere on the planet. Nearby marshes push afternoon humidity a little higher than in Baghdad, making the heat more punishing still. Rain is entirely absent, and the shamal wind can whip up severe dust storms across the plain.
Winter, from December to February, is mild by Iraqi standards, with January averaging around 12.5°C and pleasant days, though nights can occasionally drop close to freezing. This is the wetter season, when what little rain the city receives arrives, and the humidity is at its highest. The mild winter months from November to March are comfortably the best time of year.
Basra is very dry, receiving only around 130–150 mm of rain a year, concentrated between December and March, while the long summer from May to September is essentially rainless; high evaporation rates mean the little moisture that falls disappears quickly. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Basra's summer heat is among the most extreme on earth: in June 2022 temperatures above 51°C caused grid failures that left millions in southern Iraq without power, and the government has reduced public-sector working hours during peak heat. Its low-lying position at the head of the Gulf also makes it vulnerable to sea-level rise and to the salt water creeping upstream as the great rivers run lower.
To follow any single measurement in Basra more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.