Climate of Egypt

Egypt generally has a desert climate.

The prevailing wind to the Mediterranean Sea continuously blows over the northern coast without the interposition of an eventual mountain range and thus, greatly moderates temperatures throughout the year. Because of this effect, average low wind vary from 9.5 °C (49.1 °F) in wintertime to 23 °C (73.4 °F) in summertime and average high temperatures vary from 17 °C (62.6 °F) in wintertime to 32 °C (89.6 °F) in summertime. Though temperatures are moderated along the coasts, the situation changes in the interior of the country which are away from the moderating northerly winds. Thus, in the central and the southern parts, daytime temperatures are hotter, especially in summers where average high temperatures can exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in cities and places such as Aswan, Luxor, Asyut or Sohag which are located in the deserts of Egypt. Some mountainous locations in Sinai, such as Saint Catherine, have cooler night temperatures, due to their high elevations.

Every year, sometime from March to May, an extremely hot, dry and dusty wind blows from the south or the southwest. This wind is called khamasīn. When the flow of dry air continuously blows over vast desert regions, it picks up fine sand and dust particles and finally results in a dusty wind which is generally felt in the periphery of the desert. When this wind blows over Egypt, it causes high temperatures to soar temporarily at dangerous levels, usually over 45 °C (113 °F), the relative humidity levels to drop under 5%. The khamasīn causes sudden, early heat waves and the absolute highest temperature records in Egypt.

Egypt receives between 20 mm (0.79 in) and 200 mm (7.87 in) of annual average precipitation along the narrow Mediterranean coast, but south to Cairo, the average drops to nearly 0 mm (0.00 in) in the central and the southern part of the country. The cloudiest, rainiest places are in and around Alexandria and Rafah. The sunshine duration is high all over Egypt, ranging from a low of 3,300 hours along the northernmost part in places such as Alexandria to reach a high of over 4,000 hours farther in the interior, in most of the country.

It usually snows on the Sinai mountains, but it almost never snows in the cities of Giza, Cairo, and Alexandria. For example, in December 2013, Cairo received a single overnight snowfall for the first time since 1901.