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Tripoli, the capital of Libya, sits on the Mediterranean coast of northwestern Libya, on a low coastal plain with the Sahara stretching away to the south at approximately 32.89°N, 13.19°E. It has an arid Mediterranean climate (Köppen BSh/Csa) — hot, sunny summers and mild, relatively rainy winters — and it is the rainiest of Libya's coastal cities.
Summer, from June to September, is hot and rainless, with July and August the hottest — highs around 30–32°C on the coast, tempered by a prevailing northerly sea breeze that keeps the air humid. Just inland, away from the sea, temperatures climb far higher, reaching 37–38°C. Rain is entirely absent for months, and the sun shines relentlessly.
Winter, from December to February, is very mild, with January and February the coolest — daytime temperatures in the mid-to-upper teens and cool nights. This is the wet season, when Atlantic and Mediterranean low-pressure systems bring most of the year's rain, peaking in December and January, though long spells of fine weather come between the fronts.
Tripoli receives around 330–380 mm of rain a year — the highest total of any Libyan coastal city, though still semi-desert by Mediterranean standards — with most falling between October and early April and a peak in December and January; a poor winter can bring drought that lasts until the following autumn. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Tripoli's coastal strip is the only reliably rain-fed part of Libya, and even there the rains are meagre and unreliable. Its most dramatic weather is the ghibli, a scorching, dust-laden wind blowing north off the Sahara that can send temperatures soaring and fill the air with sand, most often in spring and autumn.
To follow any single measurement in Tripoli 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.