Senegal
Weather locations in Senegal
Choose a location in Senegal to view its available forecast products.
Senegal illustrated weather map
12 mapped locations
Only locations with a verified coordinate are marked. The complete location list is below.
Map Disclaimer: Maps and geographic illustrations on this website are simplified, stylized representations for weather visualization only. They are not drawn to scale and should not be interpreted as authoritative representations of national boundaries, territorial status, or geographic relationships.
Climate of Senegal
Country climate guideSenegal is the westernmost point of Africa, jutting out into the Atlantic and catching the first of the continent's humid south-westerly air. Its climate is a tropical one with a hard dry season, and the contrast between the wet months and the dry ones shapes farming, migration and the landscape. The country spans a range from coastal savanna to the Sahel.
Main climate types
Köppen classifies most of Senegal as tropical savanna, with a warmer, drier variant towards the east and the Sahelian border, and a semi-arid belt along the frontier with Mauritania. Only the far south, around Ziguinchor and the Casamance, comes close to a tropical wet and dry climate with a longer wet season. The harmattan, a dust-laden north-easterly, dominates the dry months from November to March, hazing the sun and cooling the nights.
Temperatures
Dakar, on the peninsula at the westernmost point, averages about 25 °C in January and about 27 °C in July, and the small seasonal range is a consequence of the ocean. Further inland the range widens: Diourbel and Tambacounda average near 19 °C in January and above 30 °C in April or May, the hottest time of year. The harmattan can push inland temperatures above 40 °C in the pre-monsoon weeks, and December and January nights inland may drop to around 8 °C.
Rainfall
Totals fall steadily from south to north. The Casamance and the south receive about 1,200 to 1,500 mm, central Senegal around 700 to 1,000 mm, and the northern border regions less than 300 mm, putting them at the edge of the Sahel. Nearly all rain falls between June and September, with August usually the wettest. The dry season from October to May is dust-dry and can last for months, and the country faces drought in years when the monsoon weakens.
When to go
The dry season, from November to February, is the most comfortable period: mild days, low humidity and clear skies. The rains from June to September are hot and humid and can make unpaved roads difficult. The coast is cooler than the interior in summer because of the sea breeze. For most visitors, January and February are the best months, and the Atlantic beaches are at their least windy in those weeks.