Morocco weather by the numbers

Morocco publishes one national forecast, and it is wrong in four places at once. The country is a Mediterranean coast, an Atlantic coast, a plateau in the middle with Fes and Marrakech on it, and a mountain range with a desert behind it. The numbers make the point better than any map.

The inland plateau

Fes and Marrakech sit on the plateau. Fes takes about 490 millimetres of rain a year, mostly between November and March, and can drop to freezing on winter nights. Marrakech is drier, about 221 millimetres, and hotter: daily highs average close to 38 degrees in July. Spring and autumn are the comfortable windows in both cities.

The two coasts

• The Atlantic coast: Agadir’s highs run from about 21 degrees in January to 27 in August, a range so small that the city sells winter sun. Essaouira is windier and a touch cooler, which is why kite surfers live there.
• The Mediterranean: Tangier and the Rif coast are milder than the plateau in winter and cooler in summer, with the Rif catching the rain that never reaches the south.

The mountains and the desert

Ifrane, at about 1,660 metres in the Middle Atlas, takes near 960 millimetres of rain a year and holds real snow in winter. Ouarzazate, below the High Atlas, takes about 115 millimetres and runs hot and dry most of the year. South of the mountains the desert towns are warm by day and cold at night in winter, and scorching through midsummer.

What to pack

Layers, always, and a jacket for the evenings even in summer: desert nights and mountain towns drop fast. In winter add a warm layer for the Atlas and the desert, and expect rain in the north. In summer the coast needs a light sweater and the inland cities need a hat.

What it means for your phone

Weather apps and maps are exactly the data you use most on a trip like this, and the desert is where you notice: download offline maps for any desert or mountain route before you leave the towns, and the eSIM fills in live data wherever there is signal.