Climate of Ivory Coast

Climate of Ivory Coast

Where is the country of Ivory Coast located? The Republic of Ivory Coast is located in Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea. Locally, the name Côte d’Ivoire is mainly used, the French name. Ivory Coast belongs to Sub-Saharan Africa, meaning the part south of the Sahara, which has a black population originally. The country is almost square in shape, with a coastal area in the south with a total coastline of 515 kilometers. The landscape is best described as a large plateau, which gradually rises from the coast to an average height of about five hundred meters in the north. In the west of Ivory Coast there are a number of mountains, of which Mount Nimba (with an altitude of 1752 meters above sea level) is the highest mountain. Ivory Coast also has a number of large lakes (such as Lac de Kossou), rivers and especially in the southwest a number of lagoons. The three main rivers are the Sassandra, the Bandama and the Komoé. In the rainy season they take care of the drainage of the large amount of rainwater.

Tropical climate

Ivory Coast has a tropical climate, in which two climate types can be distinguished according to the Köppen climate system. Most of the Ivory Coast has a tropical savanna climate (type Aw). Locally, the southern regions have a tropical monsoon climate. If you look purely at the amount of precipitation within one specific calendar year, the area where there is a tropical monsoon climate would be larger. However, because long-term averages (30 years) are assumed, the precipitation criteria for the tropical monsoon climate are not met in many places.

Three seasons

Ivory Coast roughly has three seasons. The warm dry season is from November to February. The hot dry season is from March to May, with significant peaks possible, especially inland towards 36 to 38 degrees Celsius. In the course of May the warm wet season, the monsoon period, starts. This season lasts until October.

Climate figures

The figures below are based on long-term average climate statistics. The temperatures are displayed in degrees Celsius (°C).

Maximum temperature Minimum temperature Hours of sunshine per day Days of rainfall per month
January 33℃ 20℃ 7 2
February 35℃ 21℃ 7 5
March 34℃ 22℃ 7 9
April 34℃ 22℃ 7 11
May 32℃ 22℃ 7 14
June 31℃ 22℃ 5 16
July 29℃ 21℃ 4 12
August 29℃ 21℃ 3 13
September 30℃ 21℃ 4 14
October 31℃ 22℃ 6 13
November 32℃ 21℃ 6 7
December 32℃ 19℃ 5 3

Best time to visit Ivory Coast

Do you want to know when is the best time to travel to Ivory Coast? You can determine the best time to travel to a destination based on the weather and climate. In addition, there are other factors that are not directly related to the weather and that can influence the best travel periods for a travel destination. Think, for example, of holidays or festive periods, which makes traveling more interesting or not, because daily life comes to a standstill as a result. Ivory Coast is a country in Africa, which is officially called the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The country is located on the Gulf of Guinea, which is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the Ivory Coast has a tropical savanna climate, with a dry and a wet period. In the southwest you see a mix of the tropical monsoon climate and the tropical rainforest climate. The southeast has a tropical monsoon climate. Characteristic for the weather in Ivory Coast are the fairly large amounts of rain on an annual basis and the tropical temperatures that can rise considerably in the period February to April/May. Think of maximums of an average of 33 to 37 degrees Celsius.

Best months

The best time to travel for a holiday in Ivory Coast is from December to early March. This is the dry season in a large part of the country, although it can still be quite rainy in December in the west. Because in fairly large parts of the Ivory Coast the temperatures in February already start to rise to values ​​well above thirty degrees, January is the best month for a trip to the Ivory Coast. When the rainy season starts, roughly in late March or early April, the amount of rain increases rapidly. April is often not too bad, with monthly precipitation amounts that are on average between 100 and 150 millimeters. In May and especially June it can get seriously wet. You see this especially on the west coast of Ivory Coast. From mid-July to mid-September, the amount of rain often decreases again, to peak from mid-September to the end of October before the less intense month of November is reached. In December, in a large part of the Ivory Coast, the number of showers decreases rapidly and the number of hours of sunshine increases.

Ivory Coast