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Al Khums has a hot semi-arid climate.

Dry country, big sun, modest rain — here's what that means in plain terms.

Hot semi-aridKöppen BSh

What this climate feels like

The four things a regular visitor actually wants to know:

☀️
Summers
Hot

Highs near 90°F in August. About 33 days a year above 90 °F.

❄️
Winters
Mild

Lows near 50°F in January.

🌧️
Rain
Very dry

About 9 in of rain a year. Wettest in December.

Sky & trend
Fairly sunny

More sun than cloud through the year.

What "hot semi-arid" means

Climate scientists sort every place on Earth into about 30 climate types, based on how hot, cold, wet and dry it is across the year. Al Khums's type — hot semi-arid — sits in the broad family of dry climates — deserts and steppes.

The shorthand: BSh

Researchers write climate types as a short letter code. Here is what each letter means:

B
Arid — More water evaporates than falls as rain — the defining feature of a dry climate.
S
Steppe (semi-arid) — Drier than temperate country, but with enough rain for grassland — not true desert.
h
Hot — The yearly average stays above 18 °C — a hot dry climate rather than a cold one.

Cities with the same climate as Al Khums

A hot semi-arid climate (BSh) — these recognizable cities share it. If you know one of them, you know roughly what to expect.

Has Al Khums's climate type changed?

A climate type is a coarse bucket. It can hold steady for years while the weather inside it shifts — or tip into the next bucket.

1971–2000 zone
Hot desert
1991–2020 zone
Hot semi-arid
About the same
Freezing nights
0 → 0 a year, vs the 1970s
1 more
Hot days (above 90 °F)
a year, vs the 1970s

What this climate means for you

🌱
For gardeners

Native grasses, drought-tolerant shrubs and hardy fruit trees (figs, pomegranate, olives) do well. Vegetable gardens need irrigation.

✈️
For travellers

Cool half of the year is comfortable; summer is hot and dusty. Watch for wet-season storms during the short rainy stretch.

🏠
For movers & buyers

Hot, dry and dusty — drought is a recurring issue. Comfortable winters; tough, sun-blasted summers.

Where these numbers come from

The climate type and the month-by-month figures on this page are computed from Al Khums's measured 30-year climate normals (1991–2020) — the same official records behind Al Khums's main climate page, so the two always agree.

Long-range climate maps measure things slightly differently and can place a city in a neighbouring category. Where they differ, this page uses the measured station record as the climate today.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 16 years of daily observations at EL Khoms, a weather station, about 4 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

How we build these numbers →