Climate averages 1991–2020
Cotonou weather
in December.
A hot, fairly dry month: the 5th warmest and the joint 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a hot month in Cotonou: daytime highs average 29.3°C and nights cool to about 25.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 27 mm of rain on roughly 8 days, which makes December a fairly dry month (the joint 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 46 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Godomè (8 km away). In December its highs average 29.7°C, about as warm as Cotonou, with 33 mm of rain.
Among the 8 cities listed in Benin, Cotonou ranks 8th of 8 for the warmest December highs and 5th of 8 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 8 cities is 31.8°C; Cotonou is 2.5°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 0.1°C to 29.4°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 27 mm to 21 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Cotonou climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29.4°C25.3°C | 25.3°C | 21 | 6.5 | 11.812 h |
| February | 29.9°C26.1°C | 26.1°C | 27 | 7.9 | 11.912 h |
| March | 30.1°C26.7°C | 26.7°C | 48 | 12.5 | 12.112 h |
| April | 29.8°C26.6°C | 26.6°C | 73 | 15.7 | 12.312 h |
| May | 29.0°C25.9°C | 25.9°C | 164 | 23.3 | 12.412 h |
| June | 27.5°C24.7°C | 24.7°C | 259 | 26.1 | 12.512 h |
| July | 26.4°C24.0°C | 24.0°C | 132 | 18.9 | 12.512 h |
| August | 26.1°C23.6°C | 23.6°C | 73 | 13.3 | 12.312 h |
| September | 26.7°C24.0°C | 24.0°C | 104 | 18.0 | 12.212 h |
| October | 27.8°C24.7°C | 24.7°C | 110 | 20.2 | 12.012 h |
| November | 28.8°C25.7°C | 25.7°C | 49 | 13.8 | 11.812 h |
| December, selected | 29.3°C25.6°C | 25.6°C | 27 | 7.6 | 11.812 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Godomè in DecemberBenin · 8 kmHigh 29.7°C · Low 25.5°C · 33 mm rain
- Ekpé in DecemberBenin · 13 kmHigh 29.7°C · Low 25.5°C · 37 mm rain
- Porto-Novo in DecemberBenin · 25 kmHigh 30.5°C · Low 24.7°C · 37 mm rain
- Irewe in DecemberNigeria · 80 kmHigh 29.6°C · Low 25.1°C · 32 mm rain
- Alasia in DecemberNigeria · 84 kmHigh 30.0°C · Low 24.7°C · 32 mm rain
- Ota in DecemberNigeria · 97 kmHigh 31.7°C · Low 23.4°C · 31 mm rain
- Bohicon in DecemberBenin · 98 kmHigh 33.7°C · Low 23.6°C · 9.3 mm rain
- Ifo in DecemberNigeria · 99 kmHigh 32.1°C · Low 23.1°C · 31 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Cotonou) is explained once on the Cotonou year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.