Iraq 
In numbers.
Jan–Apr
Best months
616m
Elevation
The water at Bekhal Waterfall, month by month
It roars from March to April.
The fullest months: from March to April. The thinnest: from June to October.
- 46%Jan
- 63%Feb
- 100%Mar
- 89%Apr
- 43%May
- 12%Jun
- 2%Jul
- 0%Aug
- 0%Sep
- 10%Oct
- 34%Nov
- 39%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from January to April.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Getting there.
- Ṟuwandiznearest town · 2.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 70 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Erbil International Airport (EBL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 65 km in a straight line
- From January to Aprilbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 69 m in 0.5 km. Here the river runs about 258 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 3viewpointsGelîyê Elî Beg, شنكل بانه, مصيف بيخال
- —waymarked walking routes
- 7car parks
- —swimming spots
- 1picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 2other named waterfalls within 4 kmتاڤگەی کانی ماران
- —caves
- —campsites
- 31hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmSoran Palace Hotel, مۆتێلی گەلی, مۆتێلی لاوین and 28 more
- 24restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Ṟuwandiz2.5 km in a straight line
- Soran6.0 km in a straight line
- Khalīfān8.1 km in a straight line
- Ḩarir15 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 10 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 30 | 38 | 42 | 41 | 36 | 28 | 18 | 12 |
| Night °C | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 6 | 2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 42 | 38 | 53 | 47 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 39 | 39 |
| Wet days | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Sun h/day | 4.2 | 5.0 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 13.5 | 12.9 | 12.1 | 10.8 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 4.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 12 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (616 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 110% | 163% | 166% | 95% | 42% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 179% | 48% |
| 2021 | 76% | 124% | 50% | 18% | 64% | — | — | — | — | 99% | 65% | 132% |
| 2022 | 164% | 99% | 79% | 76% | 83% | — | — | — | — | 33% | 169% | 48% |
| 2023 | 132% | 94% | 188% | 154% | 129% | — | — | — | — | 48% | 116% | 63% |
| 2024 | 188% | 154% | 104% | 104% | 252% | — | — | — | — | 62% | 108% | 63% |
| 2025 | 19% | 102% | 55% | 141% | 155% | — | — | — | — | 13% | 72% | 267% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Bekhal Waterfall
Iraq
- —Height
- —Average flow
- Jan–AprBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q5989331) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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