COB BASRA, Iraq –Kin Hubbard, a turn of the century humorist, once said that if not for the weather, nine out of 10 people could not start a conversation. Perhaps this explains why weather, no matter how unfashionable, is always a conversation staple among Soldiers.
The weather in Iraq, in particular, seems prone to hyperbole. Search the web or read the newspaper, and you’ll find numerous references to Iraq with temperatures of 130 and 140 and higher. While Iraq is one of the hottest places on Earth, 140 is not the norm. The hottest temperature ever scientifically recorded in Asia is 124, and the hottest temperature recorded anywhere on earth is 136.
In reality, the Iraqi climate around Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, is similar to that of the extreme southwestern United States with hot, dry summers, cold winters and a pleasant spring and fall.
Roughly 90 percent of the annual rainfall occurs between November and April, and most of that comes via thunderstorms in the winter months, from December through March, resulting in an annual total of somewhere from four to seven inches.
While Iraqi may dip down to 19 and up to 124, winter temperatures usually range from 39 to 64 and summer temperatures range from 77 to 104.
Half of the days in winter are cloudy, while in the summer skies are clear, mostly. When the summer skies are not clear, it is more than likely because of the dust storms that frequent the region. The “Sharqi,” a dry, southeasterly wind, can carry with it violent dust storms with gusts of up to 50 miles an hour.
In the late summer to early fall, the “Shamal,” a steady, northwestern wind that brings very dry air, somehow permits intensive sun heating of the land surface while also providing some cooling effect.
The influence of the Persian Gulf on the climate, strangely, is limited, although near the gulf relative humidity is higher than in other parts of the country.
Of course, weather, like most things, is relative. One of the desert’s most devious tricks is its ability to skew all normal standards of temperature. Once a Soldier is acclimated, 90 becomes normal, 100 becomes acceptable and anything higher becomes expected, especially in August.
The weather does delve into fogginess and chilliness in the winter, and Soldiers, having just gotten used to weather in the triple digits, can often find themselves thwarted by what would be t-shirt weather back home.
Intense digging for cold weather gear often follows, for as Bob Dylan, the 20th century musician, once said, “You don’t need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows.”
January 
