Egypt essentially has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). The climate is generally extremely dry all over the country except on the northern Mediterranean coast which receives rainfall in winter. In addition to rarity of rain, extreme heat during summer months is also a general climate feature of Egypt although daytime temperatures are more moderated along the northern coast.

Prevailing wind

The prevailing northwesterly wind from the Mediterranean Sea continuously blows over the northern coast without the interposition of an eventual mountain range and thus, greatly moderates temperatures throughout the year. Because of the effect, average low temperatures vary from 15 °C in wintertime to 27 - 30 °C in summertime and average high temperatures vary from 21 - 24 °C in wintertime to 43 °C in summertime. Though temperatures are moderated along the coasts, the situation changes in the interior, which is away from the moderating northerly winds. Thus, in the central and the southern parts, daytime temperatures are very hot, especially in summers when average high temperatures can exceed 50 °C, as in Aswan, Luxor, Asyut or Sohag which are located in the deserts of Egypt. Although the mild weather in the winter days the temperature decreases to be very cold at nighttime and early mornings, sometimes freezing, especially in the interior lands of Upper egypt, the desert regions has freezing nights. Temperature can go below zero degrees Celsius.

Sand storms

Every year, sometime from March to May, an extremely hot, dry and dusty wind blows from the south or the southwest. This wind is called khamasīn. When the flow of dry air continuously blows over vast desert regions, it picks up fine sand and dust particles and finally results in a dusty wind which is generally felt in the periphery of the desert. When this wind blows over Egypt, it causes high temperatures to soar temporarily at dangerous levels, usually over 49 - 50 °C, the relative humidity levels to drop under 5%. The khamasīn causes sudden, early heat waves and the absolute highest temperature records in Egypt.

Rainfall

Egypt receives between 20 mm and 200 mm of annual average precipitation along the narrow Mediterranean coast, but south from Cairo, the average drops to nearly 0 mm in the central and the southern part of the country. The cloudiest, rainiest places are in and around Alexandria and Rafah. The sunshine duration is high all over Egypt, ranging from a low of 3,300 hours along the northernmost part in places such as Alexandria to reach a high of over 4,000 hours farther in the interior, in most of the country.

Mountainous areas

Some mountainous locations in Sinai, such as Saint Catherine, have cooler night temperatures, due to their high elevations. It rarely snows in the Sinai mountains, but it almost never snows in the cities of Giza, Cairo, and Alexandria. For example, in December 2015, Cairo received a single overnight snowfall for the first time since 1899.

General information