Best time to visit Erbil

The best time to visit Erbil is March–April and October–November, judged on twenty years of weather records and the events worth going for.

Erbil, Erbil, Iraq

°C

mm

−10°0°10°20°30°40°50°
0100200300400500600
  • Average daily high and low
  • Precipitation
  • Good month
  • Best month
  • Made good or best by an event
Average daily high and low temperature, average precipitation and each month's verdict
MonthAverage daily highAverage daily lowPrecipitationVerdict
January12.5 °C / 55 °F3 °C / 37 °F92 mm / 3.6 inneither best nor good
February14.8 °C / 59 °F5 °C / 41 °F83 mm / 3.3 ingood month
March19.3 °C / 67 °F8.8 °C / 48 °F80 mm / 3.2 inbest month
April25.2 °C / 77 °F13.2 °C / 56 °F59 mm / 2.3 inbest month
May31.7 °C / 89 °F18.3 °C / 65 °F24 mm / 0.9 ingood month
June38.7 °C / 102 °F23.7 °C / 75 °F1 mm / 0.1 inneither best nor good
July42.2 °C / 108 °F26.8 °C / 80 °F0 mm / 0 inneither best nor good
August42.3 °C / 108 °F26.3 °C / 79 °F0 mm / 0 inneither best nor good
September37.5 °C / 100 °F21.6 °C / 71 °F1 mm / 0 inneither best nor good
October30.2 °C / 86 °F16.7 °C / 62 °F32 mm / 1.2 inbest month
November20.9 °C / 70 °F9.5 °C / 49 °F62 mm / 2.5 inbest month
December14.9 °C / 59 °F5.1 °C / 41 °F79 mm / 3.1 ingood month
Good and best months depend on more than temperature, rain and events. How they are chosen

Each activity on this page has its own good and best months, rated on twenty years of daily weather records. Which measures count, and how much, depends on the activity: humidity for exploring outdoors, wind for the beach, hiking and skiing, snow for skiing alone. Between them, the activities are rated on:

  • Daytime highs
  • Night-time lows
  • How warm it feels
  • Humidity
  • How much of the day is sunny
  • Hours of daylight
  • Monthly rainfall
  • How many days it rains
  • Days of heavy rain
  • Wind
  • Snowfall and days with snow
  • Major events, such as festivals

The chart shows the good and best months for exploring outdoors.

The event icon marks a month that an event lifts to good or best, such as a festival or a natural spectacle. Choose “Weather only” in the toolbar to rate the months on weather alone.

Best months by activity

Exploring outdoors

Mild days and nights, mostly dry and bright. The default for 'when should I go'.

  1. JJanuary: neither
  2. FFebruary: good
  3. MMarch: best
  4. AApril: best
  5. MMay: good
  6. JJune: neither
  7. JJuly: neither
  8. AAugust: neither
  9. SSeptember: neither
  10. OOctober: best
  11. NNovember: best
  12. DDecember: good
Best
March–April, October–November
Good
February, May, December
Why these months
  • February · good

    In its favour: share of daylight that is sunny 82%, precipitation 83 mm / 3.3 in, feels like (high) 12.7 °C / 55 °F, average daily high 14.8 °C / 59 °F, wet days 9.1 days, days with heavy rain 3.1 days, relative humidity 67%, average daily low 5 °C / 41 °F.

  • March · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 17.7 °C / 64 °F, average daily high 19.3 °C / 67 °F, share of daylight that is sunny 85%, precipitation 80 mm / 3.2 in, days with heavy rain 2.9 days, wet days 9.8 days, relative humidity 59%, average daily low 8.8 °C / 48 °F.

  • April · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 24.7 °C / 76 °F, average daily high 25.2 °C / 77 °F, precipitation 59 mm / 2.3 in, share of daylight that is sunny 87%, days with heavy rain 1.3 days, wet days 7.7 days, average daily low 13.2 °C / 56 °F, relative humidity 52%.

  • May · good

    In its favour: precipitation 24 mm / 0.9 in, share of daylight that is sunny 93%, wet days 4.7 days, days with heavy rain 0.7 days, average daily low 18.3 °C / 65 °F, relative humidity 39%.

    Against: feels like (high) 31.6 °C / 89 °F, average daily high 31.7 °C / 89 °F.

  • October · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 28.6 °C / 83 °F, precipitation 32 mm / 1.2 in, share of daylight that is sunny 91%, wet days 3.2 days, days with heavy rain 1.1 days, average daily low 16.7 °C / 62 °F, relative humidity 35%.

    Against: average daily high 30.2 °C / 86 °F.

  • November · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 18.9 °C / 66 °F, average daily high 20.9 °C / 70 °F, share of daylight that is sunny 87%, precipitation 62 mm / 2.5 in, wet days 6.2 days, days with heavy rain 1.8 days, relative humidity 55%, average daily low 9.5 °C / 49 °F.

  • December · good

    In its favour: share of daylight that is sunny 80%, precipitation 79 mm / 3.1 in, feels like (high) 12.6 °C / 55 °F, average daily high 14.9 °C / 59 °F, wet days 8.1 days, days with heavy rain 3 days, relative humidity 67%, average daily low 5.1 °C / 41 °F.

An activity is listed only where it applies: skiing at ski destinations, beach and swimming at beach destinations. The nearest ski area is 156 km away.

Weather averages

Monthly averages over twenty years, 2006–2025. Highs, lows and precipitation are in the chart at the top.

  JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels like (high) 10 °C12.7 °C17.7 °C24.7 °C31.6 °C38.5 °C42.4 °C42.5 °C36.7 °C28.6 °C18.9 °C12.6 °C
Days with heavy rain 2.9 days3.1 days2.9 days1.3 days0.7 days0 days0 days0 days0 days1.1 days1.8 days3 days
Time rain usually falls 4 pm3 pm4 pm4 pm2 pm3 pm4 pm4 pm3 pm8 pm2 am3 pm
Sunshine per day 7.9 h8.9 h10.1 h11.4 h13.2 h13.9 h13.9 h12.8 h11.9 h10.3 h8.9 h7.8 h
Relative humidity 70%67%59%52%39%23%19%20%24%35%55%67%

Air quality

Averaged over a shorter period (2022–2025) than the twenty-year averages above, and not counted towards good or best months.

  JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Air pollution (PM2.5) 2022–202518.1 µg/m³18.1 µg/m³23.4 µg/m³23.2 µg/m³24.1 µg/m³21.9 µg/m³31.4 µg/m³27.7 µg/m³25.4 µg/m³23.8 µg/m³19.9 µg/m³18.9 µg/m³
Air pollution (PM2.5, daily peak) 2022–202528.2 µg/m³27.7 µg/m³35.7 µg/m³37.2 µg/m³39.7 µg/m³36.2 µg/m³50.5 µg/m³45.2 µg/m³44 µg/m³37.3 µg/m³30.1 µg/m³30.5 µg/m³
  • Good 15 µg/m³ or less
  • Fair 15 to 25 µg/m³
  • Moderate 25 to 37.5 µg/m³
  • Poor 37.5 to 50 µg/m³
  • Very poor 50 to 75 µg/m³
  • Extremely poor over 75 µg/m³

Each figure is compared with the World Health Organization's guideline for a day's air, 15 µg/m³ or less, and with its interim targets above that. The words are ours: the WHO does not name its steps. The figures are modelled monthly averages, so single days can be well above them. The daily peak is the average of each day's highest hour, shaded on the same scale.

World Heritage sites nearby

UNESCO World Heritage sites within 25 km, nearest first.

  • Citadel of Erbil

    Less than 1 km away

Other places in Iraq

Compare places month by month on the travel calendar

Monthly averages over 2006–2025, unless stated otherwise.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC-BY 4.0), generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information (ERA5). City data from GeoNames (CC-BY 4.0). Air quality from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and sea temperature from Météo-France / Copernicus Marine, both via Open-Meteo.com. Coastline from Natural Earth. Ski areas from OpenSkiMap.org, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Skimap.org. World Heritage sites from Wikidata (CC0), from the World Heritage List © UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Readership from Wikimedia pageview data (CC0). Destination classification derived from English Wikivoyage, © Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).