Ouagadougou climate
Ouagadougou is warmest in April, with average highs of 39 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 18 °C. August is the wettest month (198 mm) and December the driest (0 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Ouagadougou averages 553 mm of rain and 365 days above 25 °C.
Burkina Faso · population 2,415,266 · 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 April 39 °C
- Coldest month January 18 °C
- Driest month December 0 mm
- Wettest month August 198 mm
- Least cloud December 27 % cloud
- Hottest on record April 43 °C
- Coldest on record January 12 °C
What to expectOuagadougou through the year
Ouagadougou has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 33 °C in January to 39 °C in April, a swing of 8.0 °C in mean temperature across the year.
Counted across a normal year, 365 days a year reach 25 °C, 334 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 43 °C, in April.
Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 0 mm in December to 198 mm in August. There is no dry season to aim for.
Month by month
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32.8 °C | under 1 mm | 27 % |
| February | 35.7 °C | 1 mm | 27 % |
| March | 38.5 °C | 2 mm | 42 % |
| April | 39.5 °C | 12 mm | 55 % |
| May | 38.3 °C | 25 mm | 57 % |
| June | 35.5 °C | 50 mm | 50 % |
| July | 32.2 °C | 127 mm | 64 % |
| August | 30.2 °C | 198 mm | 73 % |
| September | 31.5 °C | 105 mm | 58 % |
| October | 34.4 °C | 33 mm | 44 % |
| November | 35.5 °C | 1 mm | 33 % |
| December | 33.4 °C | 0 mm | 27 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32.8 °C | 17.6 °C | 24.9 °C | 39.1 °C | 12.1 °C | 31 | 27 | 0 |
| February | 35.7 °C | 19.9 °C | 27.6 °C | 41.6 °C | 13.5 °C | 28 | 28 | 0 |
| March | 38.5 °C | 23.2 °C | 30.9 °C | 42.0 °C | 16.4 °C | 31 | 31 | 0 |
| April | 39.5 °C | 26.4 °C | 32.9 °C | 43.2 °C | 18.9 °C | 30 | 30 | 0 |
| May | 38.3 °C | 27.2 °C | 32.4 °C | 42.7 °C | 22.6 °C | 31 | 31 | 0 |
| June | 35.5 °C | 25.6 °C | 30.1 °C | 40.7 °C | 22.0 °C | 30 | 30 | 0 |
| July | 32.2 °C | 23.8 °C | 27.5 °C | 37.5 °C | 21.3 °C | 31 | 27 | 0 |
| August | 30.2 °C | 22.8 °C | 26.1 °C | 35.3 °C | 20.6 °C | 31 | 18 | 0 |
| September | 31.5 °C | 23.1 °C | 26.8 °C | 36.3 °C | 20.0 °C | 30 | 24 | 0 |
| October | 34.4 °C | 23.7 °C | 28.7 °C | 38.8 °C | 18.3 °C | 31 | 30 | 0 |
| November | 35.5 °C | 20.5 °C | 27.9 °C | 38.3 °C | 15.1 °C | 30 | 30 | 0 |
| December | 33.4 °C | 18.2 °C | 25.5 °C | 37.5 °C | 13.6 °C | 31 | 29 | 0 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 mm | 0 | 11 h/day | 27 % | 18 % | 14 km/h |
| February | 1 mm | 0 | 12 h/day | 27 % | 15 % | 15 km/h |
| March | 2 mm | 1 | 12 h/day | 42 % | 18 % | 14 km/h |
| April | 12 mm | 3 | 12 h/day | 55 % | 33 % | 14 km/h |
| May | 25 mm | 6 | 13 h/day | 57 % | 49 % | 15 km/h |
| June | 50 mm | 9 | 13 h/day | 50 % | 61 % | 15 km/h |
| July | 127 mm | 17 | 13 h/day | 64 % | 72 % | 15 km/h |
| August | 198 mm | 22 | 13 h/day | 73 % | 80 % | 14 km/h |
| September | 105 mm | 14 | 12 h/day | 58 % | 78 % | 12 km/h |
| October | 33 mm | 6 | 12 h/day | 44 % | 62 % | 11 km/h |
| November | 1 mm | 0 | 12 h/day | 33 % | 30 % | 12 km/h |
| December | 0 mm | 0 | 11 h/day | 27 % | 22 % | 13 km/h |
Where Ouagadougou ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The driest places in Africa in December | 1stof 50 | 0 mm |
| The driest places in the world in December | 1stof 50 | 0 mm |
| The warmest places in Africa in March | 8thof 50 | 39 °C |
| The warmest places in the world in March | 8thof 50 | 39 °C |
| The warmest places in Africa in November | 12thof 50 | 35 °C |
| The warmest places in Africa year-round | 14thof 50 | 35 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Ouagadougou.
QuestionsCommon questions about Ouagadougou’s climate
When is the best time to visit Ouagadougou?
That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. January, August, December sit closest to 20 °C on average, April is the warmest month and December the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Ouagadougou get?
In April, the warmest month, daily highs average 39 °C. About 334 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 43 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 18 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.
Which month is wettest in Ouagadougou?
August, averaging 198 mm over 22 days with rain. The driest month is December with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 553 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 Ouagadougou 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
- Dataset version
- era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
- Last processed
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.