Gao, Mali climate

BWh Hot desert

Gao has a mildly seasonal tropical climate (Hot desert, Köppen BWh). The hottest month is May with an average daily high near 43°C, while the coldest is January averaging around 17°C at night. Precipitation totals about 291 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — August alone averages 75 mm while March barely receives 0 mm.

☀️ Summers

Extreme heat

Highs near 43°C in May.

❄️ Winters

Mild

Lows near 17°C in January.

🌧️ Rain

Fairly dry

About 291 mm of rain a year.

Wettest in August

⛅ Sky & trend

Fairly sunny

More sun than cloud through the year.

Temperature & precipitation

Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figures

Hours of sunshine per day

Estimated sunny hours each month — daylight length × clear-sky fraction · 1991–2020 monthly cloud cover (NASA POWER)

Gao climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	31	34	38	41	43	42	39	37	39	40	36	32
Avg temp (°C)	24	27	31	34	36	36	33	32	33	33	29	25
Avg low (°C)	17	20	23	27	30	30	28	27	27	27	22	18
Precipitation (mm)	5	4	0	0	63	34	60	75	37	13	0	0

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°C)	31	34	38	41	43	42
Avg temp (°C)	24	27	31	34	36	36
Avg low (°C)	17	20	23	27	30	30
Precipitation (mm)	5	4	0	0	63	34

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	39	37	39	40	36	32
Avg temp (°C)	33	32	33	33	29	25
Avg low (°C)	28	27	27	27	22	18
Precipitation (mm)	60	75	37	13	0	0

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	33	27	27	33	38	42	48	49	41	25	23	30
Relative humidity (%)	18	14	13	13	21	33	46	58	53	34	22	21
Wind speed (m/s)	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.0	2.9	3.5	3.5	2.9	2.6	2.2	2.7	3.1

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	33	27	27	33	38	42
Relative humidity (%)	18	14	13	13	21	33
Wind speed (m/s)	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.0	2.9	3.5

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	48	49	41	25	23	30
Relative humidity (%)	46	58	53	34	22	21
Wind speed (m/s)	3.5	2.9	2.6	2.2	2.7	3.1

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 18 years of daily observations at Gao, a weather station, about 5 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.

How we build these numbers →