Benin weather by month

In Cotonou, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around October 21 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around March 15. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 78% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around March 16 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around October 20. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 78% of the time.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Cotonou is typically light breeze, near 18 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.3 months, from around Jun 18 to Sep 24. The windiest month is July, averaging about 22 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Sep 25 to Feb 4, with November the calmest month at about 15 km/h.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Cotonou receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — bright — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 4.2 and 5.6 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.