Gharyan's elevation makes it significantly cooler than Tripoli throughout the year. Spring (March to May) is the most pleasant time — temperatures are mild, the hillsides are green, and the olive trees are in flower. Autumn is similar. Summer days can still reach 35°C, but nights are comfortable and the heat is nothing like the coast or the desert.
Winter brings cold nights and occasional frost, which surprises visitors used to thinking of Libya as uniformly hot. Snow is not unknown on the higher parts of the Nafusa range, though Gharyan itself rarely sees more than a dusting.