🇮🇶Iraq

Iraq spans 29°05′–37°22′N in Western Asia, covering approximately 438,317 km² at the head of the Persian Gulf. The landscape is dominated by the Tigris–Euphrates Mesopotamian alluvial plain where Baghdad and Basra sit, the Syrian Desert spreading across the west, the Jazira upland in the north, and the rugged Zagros Mountains along the east-northeast border with Iran where the highest peak Cheekha Dar reaches 3,611 m in Kurdistan.

The Hawizeh and Hammar marshlands occupy the Tigris–Euphrates confluence. This topography produces a strong climatic gradient: hot desert (BWh) across most central and southern Iraq, hot semi-arid (BSh) on the Jazira and Mesopotamia margins, hot-summer Mediterranean (Csa) and humid subtropical (Cfa/Cwa) on the higher Kurdish foothills and mountains, and cold semi-arid to oceanic conditions at the highest Zagros elevations with reliable winter snow.

Baghdad averages 11°C in January and 35°C in July with only 130 mm rainfall almost entirely concentrated November–April, experiencing intensely hot summers regularly above 45°C and the famous summer Shamal northwesterly dust-storm winds. Basra in the south records 14°C in January and 36°C in July with 150 mm precipitation and very high humidity from Persian Gulf moisture producing extreme heat-index readings.

Mosul in the north averages 7°C in January and 35°C in July with 380 mm rainfall. Erbil in Kurdistan shows 7°C/35°C with 480 mm and snowy winters. Sulaymaniyah at 870 m elevation registers 4°C in January and 31°C in July with 700 mm. The all-time temperature range extends from approximately −14°C at Rutbah in January 2008 to 53.9°C at Basra in July 2016, among Asia's verified hottest readings.

Climate events include the draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes from 1991 onwards, recurrent multi-year droughts in 2007–2009 and 2020–2023, summer heatwaves regularly surpassing 50°C, Shamal sand and dust storms with April 2022 recording twelve or more haboob events, and rapid Tigris–Euphrates flow decline driven by upstream Turkish and Iranian damming combined with climate change. These changes have altered water availability, ecosystem function, and agricultural productivity across the region.

Our archive covers 51 Iraqi cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Al Qurnah, around 46.2°C, while 'Ākra records the coldest January nights near −1.2°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 2.1°C.