Arabian Desert
Climate
The Arabian Desert has a subtropical, hot desert climate, similar to the climate of the Sahara Desert; the world's largest hot desert. The Arabian Desert is actually an extension of the Sahara Desert over the Arabian peninsula. The climate is mainly hot and dry with plenty of sunshine throughout the year. The rainfall amount is generally around 100 mm (3.9 in), and the driest areas can receive between 30 and 40 mm (1.6 in) of annual rain. Such dryness remains rare throughout the desert, however. There are few hyperarid areas in the Arabian Desert, in contrast with the Sahara Desert, where more than half of the area is hyperarid (annual rainfall below 50 mm (2.0 in)). The sunshine duration in the Arabian Desert is very high by global standards, between 2,900 hours (66.2% of daylight hours) and 3,600 hours (82.1% of daylight hours), but it is typically around 3,400 hours (77.6% of daylight hours), thus clear-sky conditions prevail over the region and cloudy periods are intermittent. Even though the sun and moon are bright, dust and humidity cause lower visibility at ground level. The temperatures remain high all year round. Average high temperatures in summer are generally over 40 °C (104 °F) at low elevations, and can even soar to 48 °C (118 °F) at extremely low elevations, especially along the Persian Gulf near sea level. Average low temperatures in summer remain high, over 20 °C (68 °F) and sometimes over 30 °C (86 °F) in the southernmost regions. Record high temperatures are above 50 °C (122 °F) in much of the desert, due in part to very low elevation.
Arabian Desert-8