Zaria climate

Name: Zaria
Address: NG

Zaria is warmest in April, with average highs of 37 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 15 °C. August is the wettest month (226 mm) and January the driest (0.02 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Zaria averages 780 mm of rain and 356 days above 25 °C.

Nigeria · population 980,000 · 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 37 °C
Coldest month January 15 °C
Driest month January 0 mm
Wettest month August 226 mm
Least cloud December 25 % cloud
Hottest on record April 41 °C
Coldest on record January 9.1 °C

What to expectZaria through the year

Zaria has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 30 °C in January to 37 °C in April, a swing of 7.5 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 356 days a year reach 25 °C, 204 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C, in April.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 226 mm against 0 mm in January — 11,283 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	29.6 °C	under 1 mm	28 %
February	32.5 °C	under 1 mm	32 %
March	35.6 °C	2 mm	45 %
April	36.6 °C	18 mm	56 %
May	34.2 °C	74 mm	62 %
June	30.6 °C	103 mm	67 %
July	28.0 °C	148 mm	80 %
August	26.9 °C	226 mm	85 %
September	28.3 °C	159 mm	75 %
October	30.2 °C	50 mm	58 %
November	31.3 °C	under 1 mm	37 %
December	29.7 °C	under 1 mm	25 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	29.6 °C	15.3 °C	22.0 °C	36.2 °C	9.1 °C	29	14
February	32.5 °C	17.5 °C	24.7 °C	38.4 °C	10.9 °C	28	22
March	35.6 °C	20.4 °C	28.0 °C	40.0 °C	14.3 °C	31	31
April	36.6 °C	23.0 °C	29.5 °C	40.6 °C	16.8 °C	30	30
May	34.2 °C	23.2 °C	28.0 °C	39.0 °C	17.4 °C	31	29
June	30.6 °C	21.9 °C	25.6 °C	37.0 °C	19.6 °C	30	18
July	28.0 °C	20.8 °C	23.8 °C	32.2 °C	18.5 °C	30	3
August	26.9 °C	20.4 °C	23.1 °C	31.0 °C	18.6 °C	27	0
September	28.3 °C	20.4 °C	23.8 °C	31.6 °C	18.0 °C	29	2
October	30.2 °C	19.6 °C	24.5 °C	33.9 °C	14.9 °C	31	18
November	31.3 °C	17.6 °C	24.1 °C	35.0 °C	13.3 °C	30	24
December	29.7 °C	15.9 °C	22.3 °C	34.2 °C	10.8 °C	30	14

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	28 %	23 %	18 km/h
February	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	32 %	19 %	18 km/h
March	2 mm	0	12 h/day	45 %	21 %	17 km/h
April	18 mm	4	12 h/day	56 %	39 %	17 km/h
May	74 mm	12	13 h/day	62 %	63 %	17 km/h
June	103 mm	16	13 h/day	67 %	76 %	17 km/h
July	148 mm	22	13 h/day	80 %	83 %	16 km/h
August	226 mm	25	12 h/day	85 %	86 %	15 km/h
September	159 mm	22	12 h/day	75 %	85 %	13 km/h
October	50 mm	9	12 h/day	58 %	72 %	12 km/h
November	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	37 %	36 %	16 km/h
December	under 1 mm	0	11 h/day	25 %	26 %	18 km/h

How Zaria 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
Zaria	37 °C	15 °C	780 mm	356
Kaduna · Nigeria	36 °C	17 °C	932 mm	352
Kano · Nigeria	38 °C	14 °C	634 mm	360
Gusau · Nigeria	39 °C	16 °C	553 mm	363
Jos · Nigeria	32 °C	14 °C	1,183 mm	309
Katsina · Nigeria	39 °C	14 °C	422 mm	360
Minna · Nigeria	38 °C	22 °C	1,084 mm	361

Where Zaria ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The driest places in Africa in November	16thof 50	0.2 mm
The driest places in the world in November	17thof 50	0.2 mm
The driest places in Africa in January	21stof 50	0.02 mm
The driest places in the world in January	21stof 50	0.02 mm
The driest places in Africa in December	39thof 50	0.2 mm
The driest places in the world in December	39thof 50	0.2 mm

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Zaria’s climate

When is the best time to visit Zaria?

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

How hot does Zaria get?

In April, the warmest month, daily highs average 37 °C. About 204 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 15 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Zaria?

August, averaging 226 mm over 25 days with rain. The driest month is January with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 780 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 Zaria 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.