The climate in Tunisia

Climate zone: Subtropics of the northern hemisphere

For 7 months, the average temperatures are over 25 degrees. Pleasant water temperatures of up to 26 degrees even invite you to bathe in the warm season. The warmest and at the same time rainiest region is Central East. The coldest is Northwest. Due to the warmer temperatures, the best time for traveling is from July to August. Less attractive are the cold months from November to March.

Temperature records of the last 74 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to January 2023 was reported by the Kairouan weather station. In August 2021, the record temperature of 50.3 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 5 weather stations in Tunisia below 820 meters altitude, was recorded in 2021 with an average temperature of 30.1 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 27.5 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 36.9 °C.

The coldest day in these 74 years was reported by the Gafsa weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -4.4 °C in January 2005. Gafsa lies at an altitude of 314 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1953 with an average temperature of 10.5 °C. In Tunisia, it is usual to have about 2.0 degrees more at 12.5 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in October 1969. With 14.5 mm per day, the Kairouan weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 74 years.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1991 - 2022

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 3 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1991 to 2022, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Kairouan, Gafsa, Tunis). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was August 1999 at 32.1 °C. January 1992 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 9.4 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 19.5 °C in the years after 1991 and about 20.9 °C in the last years before 2022. So in less than 32 years, it has increased by about 1.4 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in Tunisia. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average. There are 7 stations in Tunisia itself. In 3 cases, neighboring but nearby weather stations were also used to obtain more accurate values.