This study aimed to evaluate the impact of different climatic conditions on the growth and development of safflower under rainfed conditions. Measurements of safflower phenology, plant height, grain yield, biomass, biomass growth rate, grain growth rate, and oil content were recorded over the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 growing seasons. Furthermore, across all the growing seasons, the average duration of growth for the tested genotypes ranged from 198-204 to 205-207 days at National Agricultural Research Center Islamabad, 166-190 to 181-197 days at University Research Farm Koont, and 156-170 to 165-173 days at Bahaudin Zakariya University, Multan. The variability in growing degree days (GDD) observed at NARC-Islamabad (1915 and 2364 GDD), URF-Koont (1976 and 2265 GDD), and BZU-Multan (1883 and 1922 GDD) contributed to differences in yield outcomes. Significant variability in grain yield was found among genotypes, ranging from 1274.1 to 1483.7 kg ha(-)1 in 2016-2017 and 1563.9 to 1753.1 kg ha(-)1 in 2017-2018. Strong linear relationships were identified between safflower grain yield and GDD (as well as between biomass and GDD (R2 = 0.97 and R2 = 0.92), highlighting substantial variation across growing conditions. Oil content across genotypes and climatic conditions ranged from 28.2% to 33% over the 2 years. These findings suggest that safflower has strong potential as an alternative oilseed crop for rainfed regions. The genotypes studied responded well to varying climatic conditions, demonstrating considerable plasticity in plant height, phenology, biomass, grain yield, oil content, and growth rates. Positive correlations were found between grain yield, GDD, and other assessed traits, indicating that both genetic and climatic factors significantly impact safflower productivity. The present study revealed that even though safflower is established as an alternative oil crop for arid environments, its adaptability to fluctuating climatic stressors may enhance resilience and productivity under marginal conditions.