Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city and its holiest, sits in a valley in the far northeast of the country near the borders with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, at around 1,000 metres above sea level and approximately 36.30°N, 59.61°E. Its high, northeastern, interior position gives it a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) — hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters.

Summer, from June to August, is hot and very dry, with July the hottest month — highs around 35–36°C — tempered by low humidity and the altitude, so the heat is dry and nights cool considerably. Rain is essentially absent for months, and clear, sunny skies dominate; hot, dusty winds can sweep in from the deserts to the south.

Winter, from December to February, is cold, with January the coldest month — highs around 6–7°C and nights that regularly drop to -4 to -6°C, with cold snaps that can plunge lower still as continental air spills in from Central Asia. Snow falls fairly often and can lie for days, and this is the wetter part of the year.

Mashhad is dry, receiving only around 250–260 mm of precipitation a year, concentrated between December and April with a spring maximum, while the summer is entirely rainless; a good share of the winter total falls as snow. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Mashhad's position in Iran's cold northeast, exposed to continental air spilling out of Central Asia, gives it colder, snowier winters than most Iranian cities, while its altitude keeps summers dry and sharply cooler at night. The millions of pilgrims who visit the shrine each year encounter a climate closer to that of the Central Asian steppe than of the Persian Gulf.

To follow any single measurement in Mashhad 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.