Riyadh weather by month & the best time to visit
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · major city break · hot desert climate
The best time to visit Riyadh is January — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 99/100), with February and March close behind. Riyadh averages about 3,722 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 20°C / 68°F and roughly 6 mm of rain in January.
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- Sun hours / year
- 3,722
- Sunniest month
- January
- Peak score
- 99/100
- Rain / year
- 33 mm
- Midday UV at peak
- 11 (extreme)
- Population
- 4.5M
- Elevation
- 620 m
When is the best time to visit Riyadh?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Riyadh is January, then February and March. The dullest month is June (0/100, 0 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Riyadh?
Riyadh is one of the sunniest places on Earth: about 3,722 hours of sunshine a year. 99 Sunshine Score points separate January (99) from June (0), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #21 of 29 destinations in Saudi Arabia for annual sunshine, below the national median of 3,750 hours. Rain is a non-event in Riyadh — about 33 mm in a typical year.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 99 | 20° / 68°F | 6° / 43°F | 6 mm | 5 |
| February | 99 | 24° / 75°F | 9° / 48°F | 4 mm | 7 |
| March | 99 | 28° / 82°F | 13° / 55°F | 3 mm | 9 |
| April | 79 | 34° / 93°F | 18° / 64°F | 6 mm | 10 |
| May | 20 | 40° / 104°F | 24° / 75°F | 1 mm | 10 |
| June | 0 | 42° / 108°F | 26° / 79°F | 0 mm | 11 |
| July | 0 | 44° / 111°F | 28° / 82°F | 0 mm | 11 |
| August | 0 | 43° / 109°F | 28° / 82°F | 0 mm | 10 |
| September | 20 | 40° / 104°F | 24° / 75°F | 0 mm | 10 |
| October | 80 | 34° / 93°F | 20° / 68°F | 0 mm | 8 |
| November | 99 | 27° / 81°F | 14° / 57°F | 7 mm | 6 |
| December | 99 | 21° / 70°F | 8° / 46°F | 6 mm | 5 |
See Riyadh on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Qassim Saudi Arabia · 329 km · best in Jan · 3,777 h sun/yr
- Ad Dammam Saudi Arabia · 353 km · best in Feb · 3,439 h sun/yr
- Manama Bahrain · 421 km · best in May · 2,892 h sun/yr
- Kuwait City Kuwait · 491 km · best in Mar · 3,451 h sun/yr
- Doha Qatar · 495 km · best in May · 2,868 h sun/yr
- Hail Saudi Arabia · 571 km · best in Feb · 3,883 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Dawadmi Saudi Arabia · 266 km · 3,760 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Hofuf Saudi Arabia · 283 km · 3,616 h sun/yr · best in Jan
- King Khaled Military City Saudi Arabia · 347 km · 3,737 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Hafar Al-Batin Saudi Arabia · 380 km · 3,555 h sun/yr · best in Feb
Head-to-head
How Riyadh compares month by month: Riyadh vs Ad Dammam · Riyadh vs Qassim · Riyadh vs Manama · all comparisons
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