Sanaa climate — normals and trends
Sanaa (Yemen) has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk) under the Köppen-Geiger classification. Its mean annual temperature is 17.3 °C and it receives 399 mm of precipitation per year.
These figures are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme.
The warmest month is June (20.8 °C on average) and the coldest is December (13.7 °C). Rainfall peaks in August.
Sanaa averages 0 frost days, 1 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 82 rainy days per year.
Sanaa has warmed by +3.0 °C between 1940 and 2025, or +0.35 °C per decade. This trend is statistically significant.
The hottest day of the period reached 31.5 °C (on 25 May 2025) and the coldest -1.2 °C (on 17 December 1954).
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
Climate normals · ERA5
SanaaAmanat Alasimah
- coords
- 15.35°, 44.21°
- period
- 1940–2025 · 86 yrs
Mean daily temperature
17.3°C
Average daily high
23.5°C
Average daily low
11.5°C
Annual rainfall
399mm
Sunshine / day
11.1h
Mean relative humidity
45%
Average peak wind
12.4km/h
Seasonal range
7.1°C
Frost days (< 0 °C)
0 d/yr
Hot days (≥ 30 °C)
1 d/yr
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)
82 d/yr
Annual snowfall
0.0 cm
Average feels-like high
21.9 °C
Average feels-like low
9.4 °C
Average peak gust
34.7 km/h
Tropical nights (≥ 20 °C)
0 d/yr
Solar radiation
22.3 MJ/m²
Has the climate changed?
One stripe per year, 1940 to 2025
+3.0 °C
since 1940
+0.4 °C per decade · r² = 0.85 · p = < 0.001
Trend fitted by linear regression (ordinary least squares) on annual means. A trend is shown only when it is statistically significant (p < 0.05).
A climograph overlays rainfall (bars) and temperature (line): the standard reading in climatology, where you can see at a glance whether the warm season is also the dry one.
Records for the period
Hottest day
31.5 °C
25 May 2025
Coldest day
-1.2 °C
17 December 1954
Wettest day
60 mm
13 May 1993
Windiest day
33.3 km/h
3 June 1959
Strongest gust
72.0 km/h
20 June 2018
Hottest feels-like
30.3 °C
9 June 2024
Coldest feels-like
-6.0 °C
19 January 1987
Snowiest day
0.2 cm
23 December 1963
Sunniest day
12.0 h
31 March 1940
Normals computed over complete calendar years 1940–2025.
A specific year
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Across the whole year
Month by month
| High | vs. normal | Precipitation | vs. normal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22.1 °C | +1.2 °C | 1 mm | -6 mm |
| Feb | 24.4 °C | +2.3 °C | 1 mm | -10 mm |
| Mar | 24.0 °C | +0.8 °C | 14 mm | -10 mm |
| Apr | 26.5 °C | +2.7 °C | 2 mm | -39 mm |
| May | 28.4 °C | +2.8 °C | 7 mm | -35 mm |
| Jun | 29.5 °C | +2.5 °C | 1 mm | -19 mm |
| Jul | 28.3 °C | +3.1 °C | 9 mm | -73 mm |
| Aug | 25.1 °C | +0.7 °C | 182 mm | +56 mm |
| Sep | 25.2 °C | +0.2 °C | 63 mm | +31 mm |
| Oct | 23.2 °C | +0.3 °C | 0 mm | -6 mm |
| Nov | 21.6 °C | +0.2 °C | 0 mm | -4 mm |
| Dec | 21.3 °C | +0.6 °C | 2 mm | -3 mm |
The year's extremes
What was the weather like that day?
Your birthday, a wedding, a memorable trip: discover the actual weather for any date since 1940.
Frequently asked questions
What is the climate of Sanaa?
Sanaa has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). Over 1940-2025, the average annual temperature is 17.3 °C and it receives 399 mm of precipitation per year.
What is the hottest day ever recorded in Sanaa?
The hottest day measured in Sanaa between 1940 and 2025 was 25 May 2025, reaching 31.5 °C.
What is the coldest day in Sanaa?
The coldest day measured in Sanaa between 1940 and 2025 was 17 December 1954, at -1.2 °C.
Does it snow in Sanaa?
Almost never: Sanaa sees virtually no snow, with about 0 frost days per year.
Has the climate of Sanaa warmed?
Yes: Sanaa warmed by +3.0 °C between 1940 and 2025, a statistically significant trend.
What is the wettest day in Sanaa?
The wettest day measured in Sanaa between 1940 and 2025 was 13 May 1993, with 60 mm of rain in 24 hours.
What was the windiest day in Sanaa?
The windiest day measured in Sanaa between 1940 and 2025 was 3 June 1959, with winds reaching 33.3 km/h.
What is the warmest month in Sanaa?
The warmest month in Sanaa is June (20.8 °C on average); the coldest is December (13.7 °C).
How much does it rain in Sanaa?
Sanaa receives on average 399 mm of precipitation per year, spread over about 82 rainy days.
Is it sunny in Sanaa?
Sanaa gets on average 11.1 hours of sunshine per day, roughly 4,052 hours per year over 1940-2025.
What is the biggest single-day snowfall in Sanaa?
The heaviest 24-hour snowfall measured in Sanaa between 1940 and 2025 was 23 December 1963, with 0.2 cm.
Are there tropical nights in Sanaa?
Almost never: tropical nights (temperature staying above 20 °C) are virtually non-existent in Sanaa.
What was the most extreme apparent temperature in Sanaa?
In Sanaa, between 1940 and 2025, the highest apparent temperature reached 30.3 °C on 9 June 2024, and the lowest was -6.0 °C on 19 January 1987.
Compare Sanaa with another city
Pick a second city: its normals will be set against these, indicator by indicator.
Nearby cities
The climate around Sanaa