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Alexandria forum threads describe January as noticeably worse weather than Cairo, with posters calling it wet, windy and genuinely uncomfortable for a North African coastal city - most locals stay indoors through the harder stretches. Nights were flagged repeatedly as bitterly cold once the sun goes down, cold enough that posters reported even a heavy coat struggling to keep up. The Mediterranean itself runs rough this time of year, with posters noting the seas along the north coast get genuinely choppy in winter. Opinions on visiting were split - some said skip it unless there's something specific drawing you here, while others visited anyway and found it manageable with proper warm layers, just not the city's best seasonal showing.

This is the one Egyptian city where February is a Mediterranean winter rather than a desert one, and regulars say so bluntly: cool days, cold nights, a good chance of wind, rain and storms, and a sea rough enough to be worth knowing about. Our row gives 19.6C reading as 17C and 10.6C nights that feel like 9C, with 14.8mm of rain across 4 days - modest in total but arriving with weather behind it. The sea is 17.8C. The corniche is the walk people come for and the one the wind spoils, so it is worth having an indoor plan. Sun is 9.5 hours inside 11.1 of daylight. The record: humidity 68 percent, a 16.8 kph wind and AQI 57.

March in Alexandria is the month that reminds you this city is Mediterranean rather than Egyptian. Regulars describe a March visit with wind strong enough to lean into and temperatures around 11C - our row's 21.6C average high reads as 20C, over a 12.7C night, with 18.7 kph of wind. The sea is the same story: cold and rough through the winter half, with dangerous tides and no lifeguards on duty, so the standing advice for winter swimming is to go to the Red Sea instead. Our row puts the March sea at 18.7C. What March does offer is quiet - regulars name March and April as the calmer months here, before the Egyptian summer crowds arrive. The record: 2.2 precipitation days carrying 11.1mm, humidity 65 percent and 10.6 hours of sun.

Egypt's forum notes April is when the Khamsin winds typically arrive — windier and dustier than March, with sandstorms more frequent, though not for the whole month. Regulars say the low humidity keeps the heat more bearable than the thermometer alone would suggest, and the Mediterranean coast at Alexandria runs cooler than Cairo or Luxor further south.

Regulars are specific that the khamsin, a hot, dust-laden wind out of the Sahara, can still strike this month, causing a real spike in temperature and hazy air, though it rarely lasts more than a few hours and hits only a handful of days across the whole year. Our row backs that warm, genuinely dry read, 28.4C reading as a hot 30C, over 18.3C nights, with rain essentially absent, 0.9mm across a fraction of a day, and humidity at 66 percent. Regulars are consistent this counts as a genuinely pleasant month overall to be on the Mediterranean coast rather than inland, sea breezes keeping the heat noticeably more bearable than Cairo at the same time. The sea sits at a comfortably swimmable 20.5C. The record: 12.2 hours of sun, an 18.2 kph wind and AQI 61.

Alexandria forum regulars consistently call October pleasant, one of the year's better windows: mid-twenties with “a continuous fresh breath from the North” off the Mediterranean, still warm enough to swim but not too hot for sightseeing during the day. The comparison offered specifically for older travelers: October/November is the recommended stretch, gentler than the summer heat further south in Egypt. The city's Mediterranean climate is described as pleasant essentially year-round, with the Corniche's 3km harbourside walk, Graeco-Roman archaeological sites and the modern Library among the draws that work regardless of season. Our record: 27.4°C days, 20.8°C nights, only 3 rain days and a 27°C sea — warm, dry and genuinely swimmable, matching the “pleasant, not too hot” read closely.

Regulars are emphatic that this coast is not the Egypt people picture: it faces the Mediterranean, its winters are cold and genuinely wet, and it takes far worse weather than Cairo, often windy with it. November sits just in front of that - our row still reads 8.5mm across 2.3 days, with 24.8C days over 16.7C nights and a 24.2C sea. They also warn the month itself is a lottery, one year freezing and another warm with cool evenings, and the packing answer is short sleeves plus a jumper. Late November can still be in the high twenties. The record: humidity 68 percent, 9.3 hours of sun, a 15 kph wind and AQI 61.