How extreme does Abu Dhabi's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Abu Dhabi has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 42 years of daily weather observations (1983–present), from the Abu Dhabi Intl station 26 km away. Updated through August 2025 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Abu Dhabi has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

121°F Aug 14, 1999

That is about 11°F hotter than a normal August afternoon in Abu Dhabi (typical high near 110°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 121°F Aug 14, 1999

2 121°F Jul 7, 2017

3 120°F Jun 1, 1988

❄️ Coldest night

34°F Dec 31, 2004

About 26°F colder than a normal December night in Abu Dhabi (typical low near 60°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 34°F Dec 31, 2004

2 41°F Jan 9, 1997

3 42°F Jan 8, 1991

🌧️ Most rain in one day

5.20 in Mar 9, 1997

The three most extreme on record

1 5.20 in Mar 9, 1997

2 3.90 in Apr 26, 2013

3 2.44 in Apr 16, 2024

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Abu Dhabi's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — August's 121°F is about 11°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, Abu Dhabi's warmest days reach the low 110s°F and its coldest nights drop to the mid-50s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 121°F and as low as 34°F. A single day has delivered over 5 inches of rain. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 24 years of daily observations at Abu Dhabi Intl, a weather station, about 26 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

How we build these numbers →

← Abu Dhabi city detail