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The climate of Cameroon: when to go to Cameroon

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The climate of Cameroon is tropical, in the south-west of the country the climate is equatorial, hot and humid, with persistent rain throughout the year, but going towards north the climate becomes drier.

The rains vary from area to area, it moves from 380-600 mm annual in the semi-arid north regions, to 1,500 mm of Adamaoua highland, to 2,500-4,000 mm along the coast, and reaching 10,000 mm of rain along the western slopes of Mount Cameroon, where abundant rain falls almost throughout the year.

The west of the country around Mount Cameroon has warm and humid equatorial climate, with intense rainfall throughout the year and high humidity, in this area the rainy season is most intense during the months between June and October. Along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea the rainy season begins in April and ends in November, the months between December and March are relatively dry.

A TROPICAL CLIMATE THAT CHANGES ACCORDING TO THE PRECIPITATIONS

The central-south and the plateau areas have equatorial climate with lighter rains between March and June and more intense rainy season between September and November as well as two dry seasons between December and February and between July and August. Temperatures in the capital Yaounde, which is 750 meters above sea level, are subject to very slight changes with the seasons, the average minimum temperatures vary between 20°C in February and 14°C in March, while the average maximum temperatures vary between 31°C in January and 26°C in July, the average annual rainfall is 1600 mm.

The north of Cameroon has a rainy season that starts in May and ends in September, the warmest months are between March and May, with temperatures sometimes reach 40°C, the dry season lasts from October to April.

Regarding the average temperature, the lowest (21°C) are in the plateau, the highest (32°C) in the northern region, in the south and along the coast temperatures vary between 22°C and 29°C .

Between December and February often blows the harmattan, a wind from the Sahara desert carrying southwards sand and dust, reducing visibility and making the skies foggy.

WHEN TO GO TO CAMEROON

The best time to travel to Cameroon, although the Harmattan blows, are the cooler and dry months between November and February.

THE CLIMATE OF CAMEROON: CLIMATE TABLES

YAOUNDE (726 meters)
Month Average low (°C) Average high (°C) Precip. (mm) Precip. days
January 19,6 29,6 19,0  3
February 20,3 31,0 42,8  4
March 20,3 30,4 124,9  12
April 20,3 29,6 171,3  14
May 20,2 28,8 199,3  17
June 19,9 27,7 157,1  14
July 19,9 26,5 74,2  11
August 19,3 26,5 113,7  12
September 19,3 27,5 232,3  20
October 19,2 27,8 293,6  23
November 19,6 28,1 94,3  11
December 19,5 28,5 18,6  3
YEAR 19,8 28,5 1541,1  144
DOUALA
Month Sea Water Temperature °C
January 28
February 29
March 29
April 29
May 29
June 28
July 27
August 26
September 26
October 27
November 28
December 28

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