The climate in Benin

Climate zone: tropics

With a yearly average of 33 °C the climate in Benin ist warm, but has only a few really tropical and sticky months. It is warm to hot all year round and invites to bathe at average water temperatures of 27 degrees. Dued to the lesser rain the best time for traveling is from November to March. The most rain days occur from from May to October.

› Duration of daylight and sunshine in Benin

Temperature records of the last 71 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to October 2020 was reported by the Kandi weather station. In February 2013 the record temperature of 44.9 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 5 weather stations in Benin below 460 metres altitude, was recorded in 1949 with an average temperature of 26.4 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every 4 to 6 hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 25.3 degrees Celsius.

The coldest day in these 71 years was reported by the weather station Kandi. Here the temperature dropped to 11.2 °C in January 2008. Kandi lies at an altitude of 292 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1989 with an average temperature of 27.1 °C. In Benin, it is usual to have about 1.4 degrees more at 28.4 °C for this three-month period.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1960 - 2019

In contrast to single record values, a long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. A simply calculated average value would give a falsified result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would already decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and falsifies the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 2 measuring points in order to have actually comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1960 to 2019 there were only these 2 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Save, Cotonou). From these weather reports we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was 1998 with 30.7 °C. 1978 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 23.8 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 27.0 °C in the years after 1960 and about 27.9 °C in the last years before 2019. So in less than 60 years it has increased by about 0.9 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 2 weather stations in Benin. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of the global warming has been provided separately.




More detailed information on global warming with a view by continent can also be found on our topic page on climate change. Data basis: German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements.