Dakar climate

Name: Dakar
Address: SN

Dakar is warmest in October, with average highs of 30 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 19 °C. August is the wettest month (128 mm) and April the driest (0.04 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Dakar averages 287 mm of rain and 299 days above 25 °C.

Senegal · population 2,646,503 · 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 October 30 °C
Coldest month February 19 °C
Driest month April 0 mm
Wettest month August 128 mm
Least cloud May 27 % cloud
Hottest on record February 38 °C
Coldest on record January 15 °C
Warmest sea September 28 °C

What to expectDakar through the year

Dakar has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 26 °C in February to 30 °C in October, a swing of 5.9 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 299 days a year reach 25 °C, 51 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in February.

Rain is strongly seasonal. August averages 128 mm against 0 mm in April — 2,950 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Dakar is warmest in September at 28 °C and coldest in March at 19 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	26.2 °C	2 mm	44 %
February	25.8 °C	1 mm	38 %
March	25.7 °C	under 1 mm	28 %
April	25.2 °C	under 1 mm	28 %
May	26.0 °C	under 1 mm	27 %
June	27.7 °C	2 mm	36 %
July	28.7 °C	34 mm	58 %
August	28.8 °C	128 mm	72 %
September	29.2 °C	95 mm	64 %
October	30.2 °C	24 mm	41 %
November	30.0 °C	1 mm	49 %
December	28.0 °C	1 mm	49 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	26.2 °C	19.6 °C	22.3 °C	34.1 °C	15.2 °C	20	2
February	25.8 °C	19.5 °C	21.9 °C	38.4 °C	15.5 °C	16	2
March	25.7 °C	19.6 °C	21.9 °C	35.1 °C	15.8 °C	16	3
April	25.2 °C	19.8 °C	22.0 °C	37.6 °C	15.9 °C	14	1
May	26.0 °C	21.0 °C	23.1 °C	33.6 °C	17.8 °C	23	0
June	27.7 °C	23.1 °C	25.1 °C	32.2 °C	19.3 °C	29	0
July	28.7 °C	25.0 °C	26.6 °C	31.3 °C	22.3 °C	31	2
August	28.8 °C	25.6 °C	27.0 °C	31.3 °C	23.5 °C	31	2
September	29.2 °C	25.8 °C	27.4 °C	33.1 °C	23.1 °C	30	4
October	30.2 °C	25.9 °C	27.8 °C	35.4 °C	21.8 °C	31	17
November	30.0 °C	24.3 °C	26.6 °C	36.4 °C	20.0 °C	30	15
December	28.0 °C	21.7 °C	24.2 °C	34.4 °C	17.1 °C	29	5

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	2 mm	0	11 h/day	44 %	54 %	23 km/h	20.9 °C
February	1 mm	0	12 h/day	38 %	58 %	25 km/h	19.5 °C
March	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	28 %	65 %	25 km/h	19.4 °C
April	under 1 mm	0	12 h/day	28 %	73 %	25 km/h	20.1 °C
May	under 1 mm	0	13 h/day	27 %	76 %	23 km/h	22.0 °C
June	2 mm	0	13 h/day	36 %	78 %	19 km/h	25.2 °C
July	34 mm	5	13 h/day	58 %	77 %	19 km/h	27.2 °C
August	128 mm	13	13 h/day	72 %	81 %	18 km/h	28.0 °C
September	95 mm	11	12 h/day	64 %	82 %	17 km/h	28.2 °C
October	24 mm	3	12 h/day	41 %	77 %	18 km/h	28.2 °C
November	1 mm	0	11 h/day	49 %	64 %	21 km/h	26.6 °C
December	1 mm	0	11 h/day	49 %	56 %	22 km/h	23.8 °C

How Dakar 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
Dakar	30 °C	19 °C	287 mm	299
Rufisque · Senegal	32 °C	19 °C	292 mm	350
Thiès Nones · Senegal	33 °C	18 °C	355 mm	362
Thiès · Senegal	34 °C	17 °C	355 mm	364
Mbour · Senegal	33 °C	18 °C	351 mm	364
Diourbel · Senegal	37 °C	18 °C	388 mm	365
Kaolack · Senegal	37 °C	18 °C	502 mm	365

Where Dakar ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Africa in June	1st of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in the world in June	1st of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in December	3rd of 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in Africa year-round	4th of 50	89/100
Best beach destinations in Africa in November	5th of 50	96/100
The driest places in Africa in May	6th of 50	0.1 mm

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Dakar’s climate

When is the best time to visit Dakar?

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

How hot does Dakar get?

In October, the warmest month, daily highs average 30 °C. About 51 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

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

Which month is wettest in Dakar?

August, averaging 128 mm over 13 days with rain. The driest month is April with 0 mm. The year as a whole averages 287 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 Dakar 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: 14.694°, -17.444° (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.