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The driest places in Africa in January: ranked by rainfall

13 destinations share the top spot at 0 mm in January, listed by fewest wet days, starting with Kano. Ranked from 1991–2020 climate normals across 50 destinations in Africa.

Top three in January: Kano (0 mm) , Khartoum (0 mm) , Niamey (0 mm) . Between first and 50th place the rainfall differs by 0.9 mm.

# Destination Country Rainfall Avg high Avg low Rainfall Wet days Sunshine Sea temp
1 Kano Nigeria 0 mm 29 °C 14 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
2 Khartoum Sudan 0 mm 30 °C 15 °C 0 mm 0 334 h –
3 Niamey Niger 0 mm 32 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 326 h –
4 Maiduguri Nigeria 0 mm 31 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 339 h –
5 Bauchi Nigeria 0 mm 30 °C 13 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
6 Gombe Nigeria 0 mm 32 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
7 Yola Nigeria 0 mm 34 °C 20 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
8 Zinder Niger 0 mm 29 °C 13 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
9 Maroua Cameroon 0 mm 32 °C 18 °C 0 mm 0 342 h –
10 Mubi Nigeria 0 mm 31 °C 14 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
11 Chakwama Nigeria 0 mm 30 °C 14 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
12 Moundou Chad 0 mm 33 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 353 h –
13 Ad-Damazin Sudan 0 mm 33 °C 21 °C 0 mm 0 346 h –
14 Maradi Niger 0.00 mm 30 °C 14 °C 0 mm 0 339 h –
15 Ngaoundéré Cameroon 0.00 mm 31 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 347 h –
16 Tahoua Niger 0.00 mm 30 °C 15 °C 0 mm 0 332 h –
17 N'Djamena Chad 0.01 mm 32 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 339 h –
18 Jos Nigeria 0.01 mm 28 °C 14 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
19 Katsina Nigeria 0.01 mm 29 °C 14 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
20 El Daein Sudan 0.01 mm 32 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
21 Zaria Nigeria 0.02 mm 30 °C 15 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
22 Nyala Sudan 0.03 mm 30 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
23 Singa Sudan 0.03 mm 34 °C 20 °C 0 mm 0 342 h –
24 Al-Junaynah Sudan 0.04 mm 30 °C 13 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
25 Al Qadarif Sudan 0.04 mm 34 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 338 h –
26 Sokoto Nigeria 0.04 mm 32 °C 18 °C 0 mm 0 336 h –
27 El Obeid Sudan 0.05 mm 29 °C 15 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
28 El Fasher Sudan 0.1 mm 28 °C 11 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
29 Wad Medani Sudan 0.1 mm 33 °C 18 °C 0 mm 0 338 h –
30 Kassala Sudan 0.1 mm 33 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 335 h –
31 Kosti Sudan 0.1 mm 33 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 344 h –
32 Kaduna Nigeria 0.2 mm 31 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
33 Winejok South Sudan 0.2 mm 36 °C 22 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
34 Koudougou Burkina Faso 0.2 mm 33 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 338 h –
35 Malakal South Sudan 0.2 mm 36 °C 22 °C 0 mm 0 352 h –
36 Ouagadougou Burkina Faso 0.2 mm 33 °C 18 °C 0 mm 0 337 h –
37 Gusau Nigeria 0.3 mm 31 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 340 h –
38 Bissau Guinea-Bissau 0.3 mm 33 °C 21 °C 0 mm 0 329 h 25 °C
39 Bida Nigeria 0.3 mm 35 °C 20 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
40 Bobo-Dioulasso Burkina Faso 0.3 mm 33 °C 18 °C 0 mm 0 338 h –
41 Warder Ethiopia 0.4 mm 32 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 353 h –
42 Kayes Mali 0.4 mm 34 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 314 h –
43 Minna Nigeria 0.5 mm 35 °C 22 °C 0 mm 0 341 h –
44 Girga Egypt 0.6 mm 21 °C 7.6 °C 1 mm 0 306 h –
45 Assiut Egypt 0.6 mm 20 °C 6.9 °C 1 mm 0 303 h –
46 Mallawī Egypt 0.7 mm 20 °C 7.2 °C 1 mm 0 302 h –
47 Esna Egypt 0.7 mm 21 °C 8.9 °C 1 mm 0 308 h –
48 Ziguinchor Senegal 0.8 mm 33 °C 19 °C 1 mm 0 329 h –
49 Makurdi Nigeria 0.8 mm 35 °C 23 °C 1 mm 0 338 h –
50 Mopti Mali 0.9 mm 32 °C 17 °C 1 mm 0 331 h –

Monthly values for the month named in the ranking; only destinations with a published climate page are ranked. Download this ranking as CSV.

The same ranking one month earlier and later

December: top 5

  1. Ouagadougou 0 mm
  2. N'Djamena 0 mm
  3. Bauchi 0 mm
  4. Katsina 0 mm
  5. Nyala 0 mm

Full ranking for December

February: top 5

  1. El Obeid 0 mm
  2. El Daein 0 mm
  3. El Fasher 0 mm
  4. Mubi 0 mm
  5. Khartoum 0.00 mm

Full ranking for February

How this ranking is built

What is ranked
Total precipitation, in mm, in January, lowest first.
Period
1991–2020 climate normals: the same 30 years for every destination, so the list compares like with like.
Who is included
50 destinations in Africa with a published climate page. Neighbouring places that share a climate series are shown once.
Ties
Equal values are ordered by fewest wet days.
Sources
ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis via Open-Meteo; sea temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1. Measured values are reproduced unchanged; only the ordering is ours.

Data sources and method

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: ranking order, 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.