Winter Weather in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates

Daily high temperatures are around 77°F, rarely falling below 67°F or exceeding 88°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 73°F on January 26.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 4°F, from 67°F to 63°F, rarely falling below 55°F or exceeding 71°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 60°F on January 27.

For reference, on August 5, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Abu Dhabi typically range from 88°F to 104°F, while on January 16, the coldest day of the year, they range from 60°F to 73°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Chingueṭṭi, Mauritania (4,228 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Abu Dhabi (view comparison).

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The winter in Abu Dhabi experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 21% throughout the season.

The clearest day of the winter is February 6, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 80% of the time.

For reference, on July 21, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 51%, while on October 5, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 92%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Abu Dhabi, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is gradually increasing, starting the season at 4% and ending it at 6%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 7% on March 4, and its lowest chance is -0% on October 3.

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Abu Dhabi is gradually increasing, starting the season at 0.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.0 inches or falls below -0.0 inches, and ending the season at 0.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.7 inches or falls below -0.0 inches.

The highest average 31-day accumulation is 0.6 inches on February 7.

Over the course of the winter in Abu Dhabi, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 54 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 36 seconds, and weekly increase of 4 minutes, 14 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 10 hours, 37 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 38 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the winter in Abu Dhabi is 7:08 AM on January 14 and the earliest sunrise is 22 minutes earlier at 6:46 AM on February 28.

The earliest sunset is 5:33 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 51 minutes later at 6:24 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Abu Dhabi during 2026.

For reference, on June 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:34 AM and sets 13 hours, 39 minutes later, at 7:14 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:01 AM and sets 10 hours, 37 minutes later, at 5:39 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2026. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Abu Dhabi is rapidly decreasing during the winter, falling from 29% to 10% over the course of the season.

The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 4% on January 17.

For reference, on July 30, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 91% of the time, while on January 16, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 4% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Abu Dhabi is increasing during the winter, increasing from 8.6 miles per hour to 9.9 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on February 18, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.1 miles per hour, while on September 18, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.5 miles per hour.

The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 10.1 miles per hour on February 19.

The hourly average wind direction in Abu Dhabi throughout the winter is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 47% on December 1.

Abu Dhabi is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Abu Dhabi is rapidly decreasing during the winter, falling by 8°F, from 78°F to 70°F, over the course of the season.

The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 69°F on February 7.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

Temperatures in Abu Dhabi are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Abu Dhabi are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 8,880°F, from 9,900°F to 1,020°F, over the course of the season.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Abu Dhabi is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.2 kWh, from 4.4 kWh to 5.6 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 4.2 kWh on December 20.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Abu Dhabi are 24.467 deg latitude, 54.367 deg longitude, and 20 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Abu Dhabi contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 190 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 27 feet. Within 10 miles also contains only modest variations in elevation (308 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (823 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Abu Dhabi is covered by artificial surfaces (84%), within 10 miles by water (68%) and bare soil (19%), and within 50 miles by water (50%) and bare soil (48%).