Weather locations in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone sits on the Atlantic coast of West Africa just north of the equator, and its climate is tropical with a long, heavy wet season and a short, hot dry one. Hills in the interior add their own rainfall to what the coast already receives.

Main climate types

Formally Aw, with a rainier humid tropical character in the hills, the country's rain is dominated by the monsoon. The rainy season, when the south-west monsoon winds carry moisture from the Atlantic, runs from about May or June to October or November, and between 60 and 80 per cent of the annual total falls in those months. The dry season, from December to April, brings the dry dusty harmattan wind out of the Sahara.

Temperatures

Freetown averages about 27 degrees in January and 25 in July; the variation between months is small, and daytime highs on the coast are usually in the low 30s. The hottest period of the year is often February and March, when the harmattan is at its strongest and the sky is hazy, with highs reaching the upper 30s inland. Nights on the coast stay warm and humid all year.

Rainfall

Annual totals are high, around 1,800 to 2,000 millimetres at Freetown and over 3,000 on the hills around Kenema and Bo in the east, where rising ground forces the moist air upwards. The wettest months are usually July, August and September, when prolonged cloud and daily downpours are normal. The driest months are December to February, which bring light showers at most.

When to go

The dry season, from late November to April, is the most comfortable time to travel, with less rain, stronger sun and better road conditions, though the harmattan haze in February can reduce visibility. The wet season brings the country at its greenest and its waterfalls at full flow, and the hills around Kenema are at their best then, but travel inland becomes harder.