What temperatures to expect in September/October
 

Hello :cool4:

I'm planing my next visit to Morocco, I have 2 possible dates, either from the 21/9 to the 5/10 ( my preferred date ) or from 18/10 to the 2/11.
Now my planned route will start from Midelt, down to the Dades Gorge and further south all the way to Zagora and Mahmid . After will travel east to Merzouga.
From your experience what temperatures can we expect down south in these periods ? in the end of April,early May 2012 max temp was around 32ºC which was nice, but more than this starts to became to much for confort.

Best Regards

Tito

I normally go in October and see mid 30's temperature wise

Temperatures are ok in both periods, but be prepared for heavy rainfall specially in october. One year it is nothing, another year it can be raining cats and dogs, specially half october-november and it can keep you stuck for days.

GRTZ,

JP

September is likely to be still very hot, so minimum low 30s, could be high 30s.

October is rarely predictable, I remember seeing 43ºC (on my accurate shade thermometer) in October 2007 near Foum Zguid, the next October it was 6ºC, rain and low cloud near Midelt.

(In retrospect I preferred the 2007 temperature but I didn't think so at the time.)

There's a current thread on AdventureBikeRider forum discussing riding in heat in Morocco.

.

Last October was very hot in the south. we crossed from Foum Zguid to Merzouga from 1-4 October and it was over 40C when we reached Lac Maider.
We had a new Land Rover Discovery 4 with us whose ext temp gauge was reading 60C! Shome mishtake, surely?

In Oct 2012 we were hit by flash floods after thunderstorms over Jebel Bani. Woke up on an island!

Be prepared for anything.

Happy trails,

Peter

Decisions, decisions
 

Thank you all for your input, by the look of things, later in October is better in terms of temperature ( max 32ºC is ideal for me) but the change of rain is very high :eek3:

Hard to decide when to go.What's your advice ? go on the 21/9 or wait for latter in the year, maybe November?


Best Regards

Tito

Hi Tito,

Are you riding or driving? If you're in a car as long as you're moving the heat's not a problem.

Peter

I'll be driving a Range Rover Classic. It does have AC but I don't like the difference in temperature between the inside and outside when getting in and out of the car, so don't use it much.

Best Regards

Tito

Advice I've been given with air con is that you should set it 5 to 10 degrees C below ambient, then it keeps you more comfortable, without the feeling of getting out of the freezer and into the oven, when you go outside the air-con area.

The only time I use my ac is on long motorway sections or very dusty sections, otherwise an open window is much more pleasant and you acclimatise to the conditions better

"Open your window and let Africa in"

Peter

Sounds like a good advert for taking a motorbike :cool4:

It's funny you guys saying that, because I'm thinking of buying a BMW GS :D

But that's for later...

... this year will be with the Range Rover

minor down side is getting africa back out afterwards, still got dust in my truck from 2011 :rofl:

I was told to watch this a while back, relevant as it's around the Merzouga area, not so relevant if you've still got a motor to propel you along, but just see how much he sweats out after 40 odd minutes of exercise, and how you can't drink enough to stay properly hydrated:

Discovery Ch Toughest Race on Earth with James Cracknell - YouTube

opened my eyes to maybe why those Portuguese riders died a few years ago.