Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, sits at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles in the north-centre of the country, on a flat desert plain at approximately 15.50°N, 32.56°E. It has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — among the hottest major cities on earth — with a brief, meagre rainy season and searing, dust-laden heat.

The hottest period runs from April to June, before the rains, when highs regularly reach 41–43°C under a merciless sun, with very low humidity. A brief rainy season follows from July to September, when the monsoon reaches this far north, bringing thunderstorms, higher humidity and slightly lower temperatures, though the heat remains formidable.

The cooler dry season, from December to February, is the only comfortable stretch, with warm, sunny days around 30–32°C and pleasantly cool nights near 15–16°C. Rain is entirely absent, humidity is very low, and the skies are clear — comfortably the best time of year in the sweltering desert capital.

Khartoum is extremely dry, receiving only around 120–160 mm of rain a year, almost all of it in the brief monsoon of July and August, while the rest of the year is entirely rainless; the city depends wholly on the two Niles that meet within it. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Khartoum's most dramatic weather is the haboob, a towering wall of dust hundreds of metres high that rolls across the desert ahead of summer thunderstorms, briefly turning day to night and coating the city in sand. Its temperatures are among the highest of any capital city on earth.

To follow any single measurement in Khartoum 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.