Climate averages 1991–2020
Cotonou weather
in January.
A hot, fairly dry month: the 4th warmest and the driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a hot month in Cotonou: daytime highs average 29.4°C and nights cool to about 25.3°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 21 mm of rain on roughly 7 days, which makes January a fairly dry month (the driest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 48 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Godomè (8 km away). In January its highs average 29.8°C, about as warm as Cotonou, with 25 mm of rain.
Among the 8 cities listed in Benin, Cotonou ranks 8th of 8 for the warmest January highs and 5th of 8 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 8 cities is 32.2°C; Cotonou is 2.8°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 0.5°C to 29.9°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 21 mm to 27 mm.
The annual picture
January 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, selected | 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 | 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
January in nearby cities
- Godomè in JanuaryBenin · 8 kmHigh 29.8°C · Low 25.1°C · 25 mm rain
- Ekpé in JanuaryBenin · 13 kmHigh 29.8°C · Low 25.1°C · 29 mm rain
- Porto-Novo in JanuaryBenin · 25 kmHigh 30.8°C · Low 24.4°C · 29 mm rain
- Irewe in JanuaryNigeria · 80 kmHigh 29.8°C · Low 24.8°C · 31 mm rain
- Alasia in JanuaryNigeria · 84 kmHigh 30.4°C · Low 24.4°C · 31 mm rain
- Ota in JanuaryNigeria · 97 kmHigh 32.7°C · Low 23.1°C · 32 mm rain
- Bohicon in JanuaryBenin · 98 kmHigh 34.7°C · Low 23.5°C · 9.8 mm rain
- Ifo in JanuaryNigeria · 99 kmHigh 33.1°C · Low 22.8°C · 32 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.