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All over Egypt, days are
usually warm or hot, while nights are cool. The country has
only two seasons wherein winters are mild from November to
April and summers are hot from May to October. The
differences between the two seasons are changes in daytime
temperatures and variations in prevailing winds. Coastal
regions have temperatures which range between an average low
of 14° C during the cold season and an average high of 30° C
during the hot season.
Temperatures differ drastically in the inland desert areas,
specifically during summer, when they might range from 7° C
at night to 43° C during the day.
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In winter, the climate in the
desert change less dramatically, but they can go as
low as 0° C during the night and as high as 18° C
during the day.
The average climate in the country increases moving
southward from the Delta to the border of Sudan.
Temperatures here are similar to those of the vast
deserts to the east and west. On the northern side,
the more temperate temperatures of the city of
Alexandria during the summer have made it a popular
resort.
All over the Delta and the northern Nile Valley,
there are infrequent winter cold spells accompanied
by a touch of frost and uniform snow. In Aswan to
the south, June weather can be as low as 10° C at
night and as high as 41° C during the day when the
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Egypt gets as little as eighty millimeters of rain fall
annually in most areas. Most precipitation occurs along the
coast, but even the wettest area surrounding Alexandria gets
only about 200 millimeters of precipitation annually.
Alexandria has comparatively high humidity, but sea breezes
help keep the moisture levels down.
On the southern side, the amount of precipitation decreases
dramatically. Cairo gets a just a bit more than one
centimeter of rain fall each year. But humidity in the city
goes as high as 77 percent during the summer. But during the
rest of the year, humidity plunges. The district south of
Cairo gets very little rainfall. Some areas will go for a
long time, sometimes years without rain and then a deluge of
sudden downpours that usually result in flash floods.
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The area of Sinai
receives a little more rainfall (about twelve
centimeters yearly in the north) than the other dry
areas, and the region is dotted by several wells and
oasis, which sustain small population areas that had
once been focal points on trade routes. Water
drainage toward the Mediterranean Sea from the main
plateau supplies sufficient humidity and rainfall to
allow some farming in the coastal area, specifically
near Al Arish. The hot spring wind is a phenomenon
of Egypt's climate that blows across the country.
Sirocoo, as the winds are known to Europeans is the
Khamsin to Egyptians and it usually arrives in April
but sometimes comes in March and May.
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The winds sweep
across Africa’s northern coast from the Isthmus of Suez in
small but vigorous low-pressure bursts. Unimpeded by
geographical obstacles, the winds reach high velocities and
carry great amounts of sand and dust from the deserts.
Temperatures can rise to up to 20° C from accompanying winds
in just two hours during these sandstorms. The winds blow
irregularly and may go on for days, causing illness in
people and livestock, destroy crops, and sometimes damage
domiciles and buildings.
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