What is the climate like in the Sahara?

The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert, covering an area of over 9 million square kilometers in North Africa. The climate of the Sahara is characterized by high temperatures, low humidity, and very little rainfall.

The average temperature in the Sahara is around 30 degrees Celsius, with temperatures often exceeding 40 degrees Celsius during the day. At night, temperatures can drop significantly, with lows averaging around 13 degrees Celsius.

While the Sahara is a desert, it is not entirely devoid of precipitation. However, the amount of rainfall is very low, with some areas of the desert receiving less than 25 millimeters of rain per year. The majority of the rainfall occurs in the summer months, although even during these periods, the amount of precipitation is often quite low.

Despite the harsh climate, the Sahara is home to a variety of plant and animal species, many of which have adapted to survive in the desert's challenging conditions. Some of the most common plants in the Sahara include date palms, acacias, and cacti, while animal species such as camels, gazelles, and desert foxes are also found in the region.

The Sahara Desert is one of the driest and hottest regions in the world. It has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). The average temperature is sometimes over 30 °C (86 °F) and the average high temperatures in summer are over 40 °C (104 °F) for months at a time, and can even soar to 47 °C (117 °F). In desert rocky mountains such as the Tibesti in Libya or the Hoggar in Algeria, average highs in summer are slightly moderated by the high elevation and are between 35 and 42 °C (95 and 108 °F) at 1,000 to 1,500 metres (3,300 to 4,900 ft) elevation.

More than half of the desert area is hyper-arid and virtually rainless, with an average annual precipitation below 50 millimetres (2.0 in) and many consecutive years may pass without any rainfall. The south of the Sahara Desert, along the boundary with the hot semi-arid climate (BSh) of the Sahel, receives most of its annual rainfall during the highest-sun months (summer) when the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone moves up from the south. Wind- and sandstorms occur in early spring.

The Sahara is located in the horse latitudes under the subtropical ridge, a significant belt of semi-permanent subtropical warm-core high pressure where the air from the upper troposphere usually descends, warming and drying the lower troposphere and preventing cloud formation. The permanent absence of clouds allows unhindered light and thermal radiation. The stability of the atmosphere above the desert prevents any convective overturning, thus making rainfall virtually non-existent. As a consequence, the weather tends to be sunny, dry and stable with a minimal chance of rainfall.