Weather & wind
Essaouira in December: weather, wind and sea
December in Essaouira: 6.4 hours of sunshine a day, 5 rainy days and 8 windy days above 15 knots.
Climate normals · 1991–2020
- Temperature
- 13–19 °C
- Mean wind (daily max)
- 12 kn · NE
- Days of wind > 15 kn
- 8
- Sunshine
- 6.4 h/day (1961–1990)
- Rainy days
- 5 · 55.7 mm
Source: WMO/OMM 1991–2020 (DMN, station 60220) · DWD 1961–1990 · Open-Meteo ERA5/IFS (CC BY 4.0)
Temperatures in December
In December, the mean high is 19.4 °C and the mean low 12.6 °C, a gap of 6.8 °C between afternoon and night. That is 1.2 °C below the year’s average high (20.6 °C). Nights run 2.5 °C cooler than the year’s average low (15.1 °C). The afternoons are cooling: 20.5 °C in November, 18.4 °C in January. We suggest a warm jacket for the evening, and asking your riad whether it is heated.
Wind in December
The wind passes 15 knots on about 8 days out of 31, against 12 days in an average month. November has 9 days, January 8. It blows mostly from the north-east, and its daily peak averages 12 knots. These figures are our own count over thirty years of modelled weather data (the ERA5 reanalysis, then the ECMWF’s IFS model from 2017), 1991 to 2020. Over 2011–2020, the Essaouira station’s hourly reports count 4 days at 15 knots or more in the month. The two sources differ here by more than 2 days. Out of season for kitesurfing: a short stay can miss the wind entirely.
Rain and sunshine in December
Expect about 5 days with 1 mm of rain or more, 55.7 mm in all. It is the wettest month of the year, with 19% of the 299.7 mm a year brings. November gets 54.5 mm, January 48.5 mm.
The sun shines for 6.4 hours a day on average, from the station’s 1961–1990 records. That is 63% of the 10 hours or so the sun is up. It is the least sunny month of the year.