🇶🇦Qatar

Qatar occupies a small peninsula (11,571 km²) extending into the Persian Gulf between 24°N and 26°N, entirely within the hyperarid desert belt (Köppen BWh). The landscape consists of flat to gently undulating limestone plains with scattered shallow depressions (rawdhas) that occasionally collect rainwater, reaching a maximum elevation of only 103 m at Qurayn Abu al Bawl in the south near the Saudi border.

With no permanent rivers, negligible groundwater recharge, and annual rainfall averaging just 75 mm concentrated in brief winter storms (November–March), Qatar ranks among Earth's most arid nations. The shallow Persian Gulf, with summer sea-surface temperatures exceeding 33°C, creates a uniquely oppressive combination of extreme heat and humidity that pushes wet-bulb temperatures to physiologically dangerous thresholds.

Doha summers are extreme: July–August daytime maxima often approach 45°C and have reached 50.4°C (July 2010), with high humidity.

Winters remain mild and pleasant: December–February daytime highs around 22–25°C, nighttime lows 13–15°C. The northwesterly shamal wind, blowing mostly in summer and sometimes in winter, brings dust storms that sharply reduce visibility and disrupt flights and other transport.

Al Khor, Al Wakrah, and west-coast Dukhan experience equally scorching summer heat. The November–December 2022 FIFA World Cup represented an exceptional climate-adaptation challenge: Qatar deployed stadium air-conditioning systems and, to manage heat stress, the tournament was shifted from its traditional summer window for the first time in history.

Sea-surface temperatures in the Persian Gulf have risen much faster than the global ocean average since the 1980s, accelerating coral bleaching, threatening fisheries, and amplifying coastal heat stress. Sea-level rise directly threatens the low-lying Doha Corniche, Pearl-Qatar development, and desalination plant intakes that supply 99% of Qatar's drinking water.

Our archive covers 3 Qatari cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Doha, with average highs around 40°C, while Ar Rayyān has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 13.8°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.4°C.