Interior of the Muttrah Souq: a covered aisle with a dark wooden coffered ceiling, lit by hanging lamps, with craft and textile shops on both sides.
The Muttrah Souq, covered and dim. It is one of the few places in the city where summer heat is felt much less.Mohammad hajeer / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0·CC BY 4.0

01 The year's axis is not rain: it is heat

The four moments that define the year

DecThe most comfortable month

26.6 °C high and 17.9 low. Mild by day, cool by night, and the city running at full pace.

NovThe season opens

29.9 / 21.0 °C. The heat can finally be managed without planning every hour of the day around it.

AugThe record

35.9 °C mean, but it is the month of the city's all-time record: 49.2 °C.

MayThe average peak

39.5 °C mean maximum, the highest on the calendar. With only 2.5 mm of rain in the whole month.

02 From 25 to 39 degrees in four months

What makes Muscat's year especially abrupt is how fast the change happens. In January the mean maximum is 25.1 °C, very manageable. In February it rises only to 26.3. But from there the climb accelerates: 29.4 in March, 34.6 in April and 39.5 in May. In just three months, the city goes from mild to extreme.

A street on the Muttrah Corniche with white buildings in traditional Omani style, latticed balconies and lampposts, with almost no traffic or activity, under a clear sky.
The corniche at midday. In the extreme-heat months, this same stretch empties out between ten in the morning and five in the afternoon.Izeberg007 / Wikimedia Commons / CC0·CC0 1.0

03 The record that gives summer its real scale

Summer here is not managed with sunscreen. It is managed by rebuilding the day around shade.

04 November to March, the window that exists

A coastal road in Muscat winding between ochre-toned rocky mountains, the Gulf of Oman to one side and scattered white buildings along the shore.
One of the roads crossing from cove to cove. In good season, this stretch is driven with the windows down.giggel / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0·CC BY 3.0

05 If your trip falls in summer

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Ana Larrea

When To Go editor · Flowtravel

Ana turns climate data and local calendars into travel decisions.

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