🇰🇼Kuwait

Kuwait spans 28°31′–30°06′N as a small (17,818 km²) Western Asian country at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia, with a 499 km coastline including Bubiyan, Failaka, and Warba islands. Almost entirely a low desert plain — the highest natural point reaches just 306 m at Mutla Ridge — the landscape features a few wadis (Wadi Al-Batin marking the Iraqi border) and the shallow Kuwait Bay.

This topography produces an exceptionally hot desert climate — hot desert (BWh) across the entire country with no significant variation, modulated by the Gulf's warm waters in summer and dry continental influences in winter. Kuwait City stands among the world's hottest national capitals.

Kuwait City averages 13°C in January and 37°C in July with only 110 mm of rainfall, almost entirely falling in winter November–April. Mitribah in the inland north regularly records the country's extremes — including the famous 53.9°C verified by WMO in July 2016, one of the highest reliably-measured temperatures on Earth.

Ahmadi averages 13°C in January and 37°C in July with 100 mm of rainfall, while Failaka Island records 14°C in January and 33°C in July — slightly moderated by the sea. Summer maxima above 50°C are routine during July–August, with several stations exceeding 53°C in 2016 and 2021. The toba and shamal northwest dust storms produce extreme PM10 pollution.

Climate events include the November 2018 Kuwait City flash floods (annual rainfall falling in 24 hours), recurrent shamal dust storms, the lasting environmental impacts of the 1991 Gulf War oil fires, mid-summer heatwaves intensifying outdoor-work challenges, and accelerating Gulf coastal salinization and groundwater stress. These events have shaped the region's water management, ecological recovery, and climate adaptation strategies.

Our archive covers 4 Kuwaiti cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Al Aḩmadī, around 44.9°C, while Al Aḩmadī records the coldest January nights near 7.7°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.7°C.9°C at Mitribah in July 2016 (one of Earth's highest reliable readings), routine summer 50°C+ heat, the catastrophic November 2018 Kuwait City flash floods, and severe shamal dust storms.