🇸🇩Sudan

Sudan (approximately 1,861,484 km²) spans Northeast Africa from 10°–22°N, bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea (853 km coastline) to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest.

The country exhibits extreme climatic diversity — the northern third falls within the hyperarid Sahara Desert (Köppen BWh) where Wadi Halfa can experience decades without rainfall and temperatures routinely exceed 40°C for four to six months, the central Sahel belt transitions through semi-arid steppe (Köppen BSh) with 100-400 mm annual rainfall concentrated July-September, and the far southern savanna receives tropical wet-and-dry conditions before South Sudan's 2011 independence.

The Nile River and its two tributaries — the Blue Nile flowing from Ethiopian highlands (accounting for 90% of Nile flow during August floods) and the White Nile draining Central African lakes — provide the sole perennial water source across this vast landscape. Mean annual temperatures range from 26-30°C, with minimal seasonal variation but dramatic diurnal swings; the highest peak Deriba Caldera (3,042 m) in the Marrah Mountains of Darfur offers the only significant relief from the severe heat.

Khartoum averages 15°C in January (can drop to 6°C) and 41°C in May-June (can reach 48°C) with 161 mm annual rainfall concentrated July-September. Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast registers 25°C year-round with maritime moderation and 118 mm rainfall. Atbara receives only 74 mm annually, with showers restricted to August. Al-Fashir in Darfur experiences harsh Sahel conditions.

Northern desert regions near Wadi Halfa and the Egyptian border can pass decades without any rainfall whatsoever, receiving over 4,000 hours of uninterrupted sunshine annually (91% cloudless skies) and maintaining average highs above 40°C for four to six months, peaking near 45-50°C.

Sudan experiences recurring flood and drought cycles linked to ENSO variability and monsoon patterns. The August–September 2020 Nile floods saw the Blue Nile reach 17.5 m—the highest level since 1912, exceeding records set in 1946 and 1988. The 2020 floods killed over 100 people, destroyed more than 100,000 homes, affected 500,000+ people, and flooded 2.2 million hectares of cropland, destroying 1.1 million tonnes of grain.

The August 2024 floods killed 68+ people, destroyed 12,000+ houses, and damaged 205,500 acres of farmland, displacing 44,000+ civilians during an ongoing civil-war humanitarian crisis. Historic droughts in 1972–73 and 1984–85 caused widespread famine across the Sahel belt when monsoons failed. Seasonal haboob dust storms (May–July) create massive sand and clay walls reducing visibility to near-zero, accelerating Sahel desertification advancing 50–200 km southward since the 1930s, particularly affecting North Darfur and North Kordofan.

Our archive covers 0 Sudanese cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.