Climate
Tunis has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), characterized by a hot and dry season and a cool and rainy season. The local climate is also affected somewhat by the latitude of the city, the moderating influence of the Mediterranean sea and the terrain of the hills.
Winter is the wettest season of the year, when more than a third of the annual rainfall falls during this period, raining on average every two or three days. The sun may still increase the temperature from 7 °C (45 °F) in the morning to 16 °C (61 °F) in the afternoon on average during the winter. Frosts are rare or non existent. In spring, rainfall declines by half. The sunshine becomes dominant in May when it reaches 10 hours a day on average. In March temperatures may vary between 8 °C (46 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F), and between 13 °C (55 °F) and 24 °C (75 °F) in May. However, it is common for temperatures to soar even as early as April with record temperatures reaching 40 °C (104 °F). In summer, rain is completely absent and the sunlight is at a maximum. The average temperatures in the summer months of June, July, August, and September are very high. Sea breezes may mitigate the heat, but sometimes the sirocco winds reverse the trend. In autumn, it begins to rain, often with short thunderstorms, which can sometimes cause flash floods or even flood some parts of the city. The month of November marks a break in the general heat with average temperatures ranging from 11 °C (52 °F) to 20 °C (68 °F).
| Climate data for Tunis | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 25.2 (77.4) |
29.8 (85.6) |
35.2 (95.4) |
33.0 (91.4) |
39.0 (102.2) |
45.2 (113.4) |
46.7 (116.1) |
46.8 (116.2) |
44.4 (111.9) |
36.9 (98.4) |
31.6 (88.9) |
25.9 (78.6) |
46.8 (116.2) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 15.7 (60.3) |
16.5 (61.7) |
18.1 (64.6) |
20.7 (69.3) |
24.9 (76.8) |
29.0 (84.2) |
32.6 (90.7) |
32.7 (90.9) |
29.7 (85.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
20.5 (68.9) |
16.7 (62.1) |
23.52 (74.34) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 11.5 (52.7) |
12.0 (53.6) |
13.2 (55.8) |
15.6 (60.1) |
19.3 (66.7) |
23.2 (73.8) |
26.3 (79.3) |
26.8 (80.2) |
24.4 (75.9) |
20.4 (68.7) |
15.9 (60.6) |
12.5 (54.5) |
18.43 (65.17) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 7.2 (45.0) |
7.4 (45.3) |
8.3 (46.9) |
10.4 (50.7) |
13.7 (56.7) |
17.3 (63.1) |
20.0 (68.0) |
20.8 (69.4) |
19.0 (66.2) |
15.5 (59.9) |
11.3 (52.3) |
8.2 (46.8) |
13.26 (55.87) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −1.7 (28.9) |
−1 (30.2) |
0.4 (32.7) |
2.6 (36.7) |
5.9 (42.6) |
9.6 (49.3) |
12.9 (55.2) |
13.4 (56.1) |
12.1 (53.8) |
5.5 (41.9) |
2.4 (36.3) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 59.3 (2.335) |
57.0 (2.244) |
47.2 (1.858) |
38.0 (1.496) |
22.6 (0.89) |
10.4 (0.409) |
3.1 (0.122) |
7.1 (0.28) |
32.5 (1.28) |
65.5 (2.579) |
56.0 (2.205) |
66.8 (2.63) |
465.5 (18.327) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 65 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 145.7 | 165.3 | 198.4 | 225.0 | 282.1 | 309.0 | 356.5 | 328.6 | 258.0 | 217.0 | 174.0 | 148.8 | 2,808.4 |
| Source #1: World Meteorological Organization, Hong Kong Observatory for data of avg. precipitation days and sunshine hours | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: NOAA (extremes) | |||||||||||||
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Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons; we often resolve to give up the care of the weather, but still we regard the clouds and the rain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe.... What a terrible future!”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Certainly parents play a crucial role in the lives of individuals who are intellectually gifted or creatively talented. But this role is not one of active instruction, of teaching children skills,... rather, it is support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the critical factors.”
—David Elkind (20th century)