🇹🇳Tunisia

Tunisia (163,610 km²) spans North Africa between 30°–37°N, 7°–11°E, from the Mediterranean coast across the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara Desert, creating three distinct climate zones within a compact national territory. The humid Mediterranean north (Köppen Csa) receives 400–1,000 mm annual rainfall concentrated in cool, wet winters (November–March) and experiences hot, dry summers averaging 30–35°C, supporting olive groves, wheat cultivation, and coastal tourism infrastructure from Bizerte to Hammamet.

The semi-arid central Tell region (Köppen BSh) transitions from 200–400 mm rainfall with steppe vegetation, while the vast southern Saharan interior (Köppen BWh) receives under 100 mm annually with extreme temperature swings from 45°C+ summer highs to occasional winter frosts.

The Dorsal Atlas mountains rising to 1,544 m at Jebel Chambi capture orographic precipitation and feed critical river systems including the Medjerda (Tunisia's only perennial river) and reservoirs like Sidi Salem (capacity 550 million m³, Tunisia's largest water storage).

Tunisia experienced major climate-related hazards between 2017 and 2024. A prolonged drought from 2017–2024 severely reduced water availability: major reservoirs including Sidi Salem declined from 90% capacity in 2016 to 20% by summer 2023, while Mellègue and other dams reached critically low levels. This required authorities to implement strict water rationing across cities and cut agricultural irrigation allocations by 50–70%.

An August 2023 heatwave drove Tunis to a national record of 49°C on August 3, the highest temperature recorded in North Africa outside the Sahara, surpassing the 1931 previous record of 48.6°C. The multi-day heat overwhelmed electricity grids and caused widespread power outages.

In September 2018, torrential storms dropped over 200 mm of rain in 24 hours across the Nabeul-Cap Bon peninsula, killing at least 6 people, displacing thousands, and causing over 100 million dinars in agricultural damage. Coastal erosion has accelerated in recent decades, with beaches retreating 10–30 meters in Djerba, Hammamet, and Monastir.

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