The climate of Burkina Faso: when to go to Burkina Faso

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The climate of Burkina Faso is tropical, characterized by high temperatures and divided into two seasons: a dry from November to March and a rainy season between April and October. Within the country there are three distinct climatic zones, divided by the amount of rainfall they receive: to the north is the Sahel region that is the most arid part of the country, with less than 500 mm of annual rainfall and with a semi-desert climate; in the center is the Sudan-Sahelian climate zone with rainfall between 500 mm and 900 mm per year; and finally to the south of the country is the Sudan-Guinean climate zone with rainfall above 900 mm per year.

THE DRY SEASON AND THE RAIN SEASON

During the dry season, between November and March, is blowing from the north-east f the Harmattan, a hot wind, dry and dusty. The rains are brought by the wet south-east wind but loses intensity as they head north.

The rainfall pattern shows considerable differences between the south and the north of the country, rainfall is higher in the south, in the regions of south-west fall more than 1,200 mm of rain per year, while in the far north of the country thera are only 350 mm rain per year with long periods of drought. In southern regions, the rainy season is concentrated in the months between April and October, while in the north the rainy season comes down to just four months, between June and September.

As for temperatures Burkina Faso is affected by high temperatures throughout the year, in the northern regions there is a great difference in the daily temperatures between day and night.

The hottest period is the beginning of the rainy season, so the month of April, when the country have average maximum temperatures, which according to the locality touch values varying between 36 ° C and 42 ° C.

As for the average minimum temperatures the coldest month is usually January, with values ranging between 14 ° C in the north of the country and 19 ° C in the southern regions.

WHEN TO GO TO BURKINA FASO

The best time for a trip to Burkina Faso is between the months of November and February, during this time never rains and the temperatures are bearable because the heat is moderate and dry. Even the months of March and April are dry, but they have higher temperatures.

CLIMATE OF BURKINA FASO: CLIMATE TABLES

OUAGADOUGOU (305 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	16,5	32,9	0,1	0
February	19,1	35,8	0,5	0
March	23,5	38,3	5,9	1
April	26,4	39,3	26,5	3
May	26,1	37,7	66,8	8
June	24,1	34,7	97,5	10
July	22,8	32,1	176,2	14
August	22,2	31,1	214,2	16
September	22,4	32,5	121,2	11
October	23,0	35,6	33,5	5
November	19,6	35,9	1,2	0
December	16,9	33,4	0,2	0
YEAR	21,9	34,9	743,8	68

BOBO DIOULASSO (445 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	18,7	32,5	0,9	0
February	21,4	35,0	3,4	0
March	24,0	36,5	17,4	3
April	24,8	36,5	45,8	5
May	23,8	34,5	102,1	9
June	22,1	31,7	130,8	11
July	21,3	29,7	195,5	15
August	21,0	29,1	268,5	19
September	21,0	30,4	170,1	15
October	21,7	33,0	57,7	7
November	20,6	34,1	7,7	1
December	18,8	32,5	1,2	0
YEAR	21,6	33,0	1001,1	85

DORI (277 meters)
Month	Average low (°C)	Average high (°C)	Precip. (mm)	Precip. days
January	14,6	32,4	0,0
February	17,0	35,7	0,1
March	21,5	39,2	2,7
April	25,5	42,1	5,1
May	28,0	41,7	19,8
June	26,7	39,1	57,4
July	24,7	35,9	121,4
August	23,8	34,4	160,4
September	24,3	36,5	68,5
October	23,8	39,2	10,1
November	18,1	37,1	0,0
December	15,1	33,3	0,1
YEAR			445,6