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The climate of Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a country located in the western part of the African continent. The country was known as the Republic of Upper Volta until 1984. As opposed to its surrounding countries in which political changes often went hand in hand with extreme violence Burkina Faso is a peaceful country. The largest part of Burkina Faso consists of a pen plain (flat land surface representing an advanced stage of erosion) and is located at an altitude of 400 meters above sea level. The highest point in this fairly flat country is Ténakourou located at an altitude of 749 meters above sea level. Burkina Faso is located at the spot where a tropical savannah climate changes into a drier and warmer steppe climate. A small region in the northern part of the country is located in the Sahel and has a warm desert climate.

Climate information of places and areas in Burkina Faso
The climate information given on this page is only brief. Specific information on weather and climate can be found on the pages per region or city. The following climate information is available for Burkina Faso:

Rainy season
Burkina Faso has a dry season when it is winter on the northern hemisphere. From November until the second part of April precipitation figures are almost nil. Showers hardly occur during this period, when showers do occur precipitation figures are low. In May the weather changes, the rainy season is from May until the second part of October. Precipitation figures are highest in August. In the wettest regions about 300 millimeters of rainfall can be recorded in August (long term average). During really wet years more than 400 millimeters of precipitation can be recorded.

Heat
Because Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in which the sea has little to no influence on the climate the country is among the warmest countries in the region. From March till May average maximum temperatures are between 36-42 degrees Celsius (97-107 degrees Fahrenheit). During some days temperatures may even rise higher. Especially in the northern part of the country which is located in the Sahel temperatures may even rise up to 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit). When the rainy season starts chances of precipitation increase and temperatures start to drop. When the rainy season is over temperatures start to rise again. However, it doesn’t immediately get as hot as during the end of the dry season.

Climate figures
Throughout Burkina Faso several climate figures and temperatures can be recorded. The figures below are for Ouagadougou and cannot be seen as an average for this country. For climate figures for other places and regions in Burkina Faso please, visit the individual climate pages.

	average  maximum temperature (°C)	average minimum temperature (°C)	average hours of sunshine per day	average days with precipitation per month	average mm precipitation per month	average sea temperature (°C)
January	33	17	9	1		n/a
February	36	20	9	1		n/a
March	38	24	8	2		n/a
April	40	27	8	4		n/a
May	39	27	8	7		n/a
June	35	25	8	10		n/a
July	32	24	7	13		n/a
August	32	23	7	17		n/a
September	33	23	7	15		n/a
October	36	23	9	7		n/a
November	36	20	9	1		n/a
December	33	17	9	1		n/a
= 0-5 mm ● = 6-30 mm ● = 31-60 mm ● = 61-100 mm ● = 101-200 mm ● = over 200 mm = 0-2 inches ● = 2-12 inches ● = 12-24 inches ● = 25-40 inches ● = 41-80 inches ● = over 80 inches

More climate information
Climate figures are very useful but don’t present a general impression of the climate and the eventual weather circumstances within a certain period. The figures don’t always reflect the chance of wintry weather, extreme heat or hurricanes. That is why we offer useful extra climate information for each month of the year:

	chance of (very) hot weather	chance of (very) cool weather	chance of long-term precipitation	chance of hurricanes (cyclones)	chance of sunny days	UV-index
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
click here for the explanation of the symbols

Disclaimer
The information at this site was carefully composed from climate data collected by meteorological services, meteorological offices, climate experts and other sources. “More climate info” is based on statistics, climate data and personal experience. No rights can be derived from this site. Weather has no memory and gives no guaranties. Nothing is as changeable and unpredictable as the weather. The authors of this site feel in no way responsible for any damages caused by misinterpretation or other circumstances that may influence your holiday or trip to a certain destination. We provide information, it’s up to the reader to use it to it’s benefit.