Погода: Доха, февраль

Doha's forum rates February as close to the best weather of the year for the Gulf coast — sunny and pleasantly warm most days, occasionally windy and dusty rather than rainy. Regulars' consistent tip: a light jacket for evenings and early mornings, when it can turn genuinely chilly by local standards.

Regulars are specific this month splits cleanly in two - early-to-mid April still genuinely pleasant for walking around outdoors, while the back half tips noticeably hotter, foreshadowing the brutal summer to come. Our row backs the warm, dry read, 34C reading as a hot 35C, over 23.7C nights, with rain minimal at 10.7mm across just 1.1 days and humidity at 52 percent. Regulars are consistent that shorts and t-shirts work fine for casual outings, though a light long-sleeve layer is the standard advice for the Grand Mosque or Museum of Islamic Art visits. The sea has already warmed to a swimmable 24.2C, an early-season upside before deep summer arrives. The record: 11.1 hours of sun, a 23.2 kph wind and AQI 113.

Regulars are consistent that this marks the start of the pleasant peak season here, with genuinely comfortable daytime temperatures and evenings cool enough to enjoy outdoor dinners after a summer that made that impossible. Our row backs the mild-for-the-region read, 30.5C reading as 31C, over 22.8C nights, with rain a minor presence at 7.9mm across just 1.1 days - regulars are clear any rain that does arrive tends to be short-lived rather than a sustained wet spell. Sunset lands around 5 to 5:30pm with full dark by 6 to 6:30, worth knowing for planning an evening out. The sea holds a warm 26.9C. The record: humidity 65 percent, 9.9 hours of sun, a 19.8 kph wind and AQI 83.

Regulars call March one of the best stretches of the Gulf year, putting the whole twenty-four hours between 20 and 30C - our row reads 28.5C down to 19.4C - and note that the winter here is arid rather than humid, which our 59 percent supports. The caveat they raise unprompted is the air. This is desert, the sand content is high, and sandstorms arrive now and then at anything from mild to quite bad. Our row puts AQI at 101, which for once is a figure a board would recognise, and our 24.7 kph average wind is the mechanism. Rain is negligible at 6.8mm across 1.7 days. The record: 10.5 hours of sun and a 22.8C sea.

December is one of the two months regulars name as the good time to be in Doha - their description is 20 to 24C by day and 16 to 20C in the evening, our row 25.7C over 18C - with any rain short-lived rather than a day-ender. The useful correction is about swimming. The Gulf here is not the bath it is in August: they call it frankly not that warm, around 20C at best, and our row's 22.7C sea agrees. A heated hotel pool is the better bet, and worth asking about before booking. Bring something for the evening, because the drop after dark is real in a city people picture as permanently hot. The record: 12.6mm across 1.2 precipitation days, humidity 71 percent, a 20.6 kph wind and AQI 98.