Sokoto climate

Name: Sokoto
Address: NG

Sokoto is warmest in April, with average highs of 41 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 18 °C. August is the wettest month (163 mm) and November the driest (0.01 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Sokoto averages 382 mm of rain and 364 days above 25 °C.

Nigeria · population 1,040,000 · 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 41 °C
Coldest month January 18 °C
Driest month November 0 mm
Wettest month August 163 mm
Least cloud December 24 % cloud
Hottest on record April 44 °C
Coldest on record January 11 °C

What to expectSokoto through the year

Sokoto has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 32 °C in January to 41 °C in April, a swing of 9.4 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 364 days a year reach 25 °C, 329 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 44 °C, in April.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 163 mm against 0 mm in November — 16,265 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	31.6 °C	under 1 mm	25 %
February	34.8 °C	under 1 mm	25 %
March	38.5 °C	under 1 mm	38 %
April	40.5 °C	3 mm	45 %
May	39.4 °C	21 mm	48 %
June	36.9 °C	33 mm	45 %
July	33.1 °C	80 mm	65 %
August	30.7 °C	163 mm	74 %
September	32.7 °C	68 mm	57 %
October	35.7 °C	13 mm	41 %
November	35.1 °C	under 1 mm	31 %
December	32.3 °C	under 1 mm	24 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	31.6 °C	17.6 °C	24.1 °C	39.7 °C	10.9 °C	31	21
February	34.8 °C	20.1 °C	27.1 °C	41.5 °C	13.5 °C	28	26
March	38.5 °C	23.5 °C	30.8 °C	42.9 °C	14.6 °C	31	31
April	40.5 °C	26.5 °C	33.5 °C	44.4 °C	20.9 °C	30	30
May	39.4 °C	27.8 °C	33.3 °C	43.0 °C	22.9 °C	31	31
June	36.9 °C	26.7 °C	31.4 °C	41.6 °C	22.4 °C	30	30
July	33.1 °C	24.7 °C	28.5 °C	38.8 °C	21.3 °C	31	28
August	30.7 °C	23.5 °C	26.7 °C	36.0 °C	20.8 °C	31	20
September	32.7 °C	24.1 °C	28.0 °C	37.4 °C	20.8 °C	30	27
October	35.7 °C	23.8 °C	29.5 °C	39.2 °C	17.9 °C	31	31
November	35.1 °C	21.2 °C	27.8 °C	38.6 °C	16.8 °C	30	30
December	32.3 °C	18.5 °C	24.9 °C	37.3 °C	13.7 °C	31	25

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	under 1 mm	0	11 h/day	25 %	16 %	17 km/h
February	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	25 %	12 %	17 km/h
March	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	38 %	12 %	16 km/h
April	3 mm	1	12 h/day	45 %	22 %	15 km/h
May	21 mm	5	13 h/day	48 %	41 %	16 km/h
June	33 mm	7	13 h/day	45 %	55 %	16 km/h
July	80 mm	13	13 h/day	65 %	68 %	15 km/h
August	163 mm	19	13 h/day	74 %	77 %	14 km/h
September	68 mm	9	12 h/day	57 %	72 %	13 km/h
October	13 mm	3	12 h/day	41 %	50 %	12 km/h
November	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	31 %	22 %	14 km/h
December	under 1 mm	0	11 h/day	24 %	17 %	16 km/h

How Sokoto 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
Sokoto	41 °C	18 °C	382 mm	364
Gusau · Nigeria	39 °C	16 °C	553 mm	363
Tahoua · Niger	40 °C	15 °C	183 mm	364
Maradi · Niger	40 °C	14 °C	282 mm	362
Katsina · Nigeria	39 °C	14 °C	422 mm	360
Niamey · Niger	41 °C	16 °C	272 mm	365
Zaria · Nigeria	37 °C	15 °C	780 mm	356

Where Sokoto ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The driest places in Africa in November	6thof 50	0.01 mm
The driest places in the world in November	6thof 50	0.01 mm
The warmest places in Africa in April	7thof 50	41 °C
The warmest places in the world in April	7thof 50	41 °C
The warmest places in Africa in March	9thof 50	38 °C
The warmest places in the world in March	9thof 50	38 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Sokoto’s climate

When is the best time to visit Sokoto?

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 November the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Sokoto get?

In April, the warmest month, daily highs average 41 °C. About 329 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 44 °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 Sokoto?

August, averaging 163 mm over 19 days with rain. The driest month is November with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 382 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 Sokoto 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: 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.