Climate averages 1991–2020

Cotonou weather
in March.

A hot, moderately wet month: the warmest and the 4th driest of the year.

Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.

Average high 30.1°C Daytime mean, March

Average low 26.7°C Night-time mean, March

Rainfall 48 mm 13 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 12 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

March is a hot month in Cotonou: daytime highs average 30.1°C and nights cool to about 26.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the warmest month of the year.

Expect about 48 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes March a moderately wet month (the 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 05 min on an average March day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Godomè (8 km away). In March its highs average 30.5°C, about as warm as Cotonou, with 66 mm of rain.

Among the 8 cities listed in Benin, Cotonou ranks 8th of 8 for the warmest March highs and 3rd of 8 for the driest March (rainfall, lowest first). The mean March high of those 8 cities is 33.0°C; Cotonou is 3.0°C cooler than that mean.

From March to April, average highs fall by 0.2°C to 29.8°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 48 mm to 73 mm.

The annual picture

March in context

30-year average

Average highAverage low°C

Monthly rainfall

Average total · mm

Averages 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

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Cotonou, 1991–2020
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, selected	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

March in nearby cities

Distance from Cotonou

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 limits

How 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.