Parakou climate

Name: Parakou
Address: BJ

Parakou is warmest in March, with average highs of 37 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 19 °C. August is the wettest month (253 mm) and December the driest (1.5 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Parakou averages 1,150 mm of rain and 359 days above 25 °C.

Benin · population 255,478 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month March 37 °C
Coldest month January 19 °C
Driest month December 2 mm
Wettest month August 253 mm
Least cloud December 27 % cloud
Hottest on record February 40 °C
Coldest on record December 15 °C

What to expectParakou through the year

Parakou has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 35 °C in January to 37 °C in March, a swing of 5.6 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 359 days a year reach 25 °C, 278 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 253 mm against 2 mm in December — 167 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	34.7 °C	2 mm	32 %
February	36.3 °C	7 mm	41 %
March	36.9 °C	25 mm	60 %
April	35.5 °C	70 mm	70 %
May	33.0 °C	124 mm	75 %
June	30.6 °C	137 mm	76 %
July	28.8 °C	212 mm	83 %
August	28.2 °C	253 mm	86 %
September	29.3 °C	216 mm	80 %
October	31.2 °C	97 mm	69 %
November	33.8 °C	6 mm	44 %
December	34.3 °C	2 mm	27 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	34.7 °C	19.4 °C	26.6 °C	37.9 °C	15.3 °C	31	31
February	36.3 °C	21.2 °C	28.3 °C	40.1 °C	16.2 °C	28	28
March	36.9 °C	23.6 °C	29.6 °C	40.1 °C	15.9 °C	31	31
April	35.5 °C	24.1 °C	28.8 °C	40.0 °C	18.7 °C	30	30
May	33.0 °C	23.5 °C	27.2 °C	38.4 °C	21.1 °C	31	29
June	30.6 °C	22.5 °C	25.7 °C	35.2 °C	20.2 °C	30	20
July	28.8 °C	21.6 °C	24.4 °C	33.1 °C	19.3 °C	29	8
August	28.2 °C	21.3 °C	24.0 °C	32.2 °C	19.3 °C	28	6
September	29.3 °C	21.5 °C	24.5 °C	33.9 °C	19.2 °C	29	11
October	31.2 °C	21.8 °C	25.5 °C	35.3 °C	18.0 °C	31	24
November	33.8 °C	20.9 °C	26.7 °C	37.1 °C	15.6 °C	30	30
December	34.3 °C	19.4 °C	26.4 °C	37.0 °C	14.8 °C	31	31

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	2 mm	0	12 h/day	32 %	32 %	12 km/h
February	7 mm	1	12 h/day	41 %	36 %	12 km/h
March	25 mm	4	12 h/day	60 %	51 %	13 km/h
April	70 mm	12	12 h/day	70 %	66 %	13 km/h
May	124 mm	18	13 h/day	75 %	76 %	12 km/h
June	137 mm	19	13 h/day	76 %	81 %	12 km/h
July	212 mm	25	13 h/day	83 %	85 %	11 km/h
August	253 mm	26	12 h/day	86 %	87 %	11 km/h
September	216 mm	24	12 h/day	80 %	86 %	9.8 km/h
October	97 mm	15	12 h/day	69 %	80 %	10.0 km/h
November	6 mm	1	12 h/day	44 %	59 %	11 km/h
December	2 mm	0	12 h/day	27 %	38 %	11 km/h

How Parakou compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Parakou	37 °C	19 °C	1,150 mm	359
Saki · Nigeria	35 °C	20 °C	1,094 mm	357
Kisi · Nigeria	37 °C	20 °C	1,020 mm	360
Iseyin · Nigeria	35 °C	21 °C	1,046 mm	359
Oyo · Nigeria	35 °C	21 °C	1,010 mm	359
Ogbomoso · Nigeria	35 °C	21 °C	991 mm	359
Ilorin · Nigeria	37 °C	20 °C	789 mm	361

Where Parakou ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The warmest places in Africa in December	13th of 50	34 °C
The warmest places in Africa in February	14th of 50	36 °C
The warmest places in Africa in January	14th of 50	35 °C
The warmest places in the world in February	14th of 50	36 °C
The warmest places in the world in December	15th of 50	34 °C
The warmest places in the world in January	15th of 50	35 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Parakou.

QuestionsCommon questions about Parakou’s climate

When is the best time to visit Parakou?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. July, August, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, March is the warmest month and December the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Parakou get?

In March, the warmest month, daily highs average 37 °C. About 278 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 40 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 19 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Parakou?

August, averaging 253 mm over 26 days with rain. The driest month is December with 2 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,150 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Parakou rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: 9.337°, 2.630° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.