Geography and Climate
Basra is located on the Shatt-Al-Arab waterway, downstream of which is the Persian Gulf. The Shatt-Al-Arab and Basra waterways define the eastern and western borders of Basra, respectively. The city is penetrated by a complex network of canals and streams; vital for irrigation and other agricultural use. These canals were once used to transport goods and people throughout the city, but during the last 2 decades, pollution and a continuous drop in water levels have made river navigation impossible in the canals. Basra is 110 km away from the Persian Gulf.
Basra has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), like the rest of the surrounding region, though it receives slightly more precipitation than inland locations due to its location near the coast. During the summer months, from June to August, Basra is consistently one of the hottest cities on the planet, regularly exceeding 45 °C (113 °F) and may approach 50 °C (122 °F) during July. During the winter, Basra experiences mild weather with average high temperatures around 20 °C (68 °F). In few winter nights, minimum temperature lows below 0 °C (32 °F). High humidity is common due to the proximity to the marshy Persian Gulf (may exceed 90%).
| Climate data for Basra | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 27 (81) |
31 (88) |
35 (95) |
41 (106) |
46 (115) |
52 (126) |
51 (124) |
50 (122) |
47 (117) |
46 (115) |
37 (99) |
29 (84) |
52 (126) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 18 (64) |
20 (68) |
24 (75) |
29 (84) |
35 (95) |
38 (100) |
40 (104) |
41 (106) |
39 (102) |
34 (93) |
27 (81) |
21 (70) |
30.4 (86.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 7 (45) |
9 (48) |
13 (55) |
17 (63) |
24 (75) |
27 (81) |
27 (81) |
26 (79) |
22 (72) |
18 (64) |
14 (57) |
9 (48) |
17.8 (64.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −4 (25) |
−2 (28) |
2 (36) |
8 (46) |
9 (48) |
21 (70) |
22 (72) |
20 (68) |
14 (57) |
7 (45) |
3 (37) |
−2 (28) |
−4 (25) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 36 (1.42) |
28 (1.1) |
31 (1.22) |
31 (1.22) |
5 (0.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
36 (1.42) |
20.0 (0.787) |
182 (7.17) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 20.7 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 210 | 240 | 270 | 240 | 300 | 330 | 310 | 341 | 330 | 279 | 240 | 217 | 3,259 |
| Source: BBC Weather | |||||||||||||
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