Gao weather in January

In January, Gao sees average daytime highs of 33°C and overnight lows near 20°C, with 0 mm of rain across 0.1 wet days and about 11.4 hours of daylight. It is the 9th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 32°C in the first days to 34°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 67% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 18 min at the start of January to 11 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Gao's 1st-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Gao's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 33°; 9th warmest
Overnight low: 20°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 0 mm; 0.1 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 24 min; 6:36 AM – 6:00 PM
Cloud cover: 29%; 1st clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 5.86 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.6; out of 10

← December Gao year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in January

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 32°C in the first days to 34°C by the end.

A typical January day in Gao reaches about 33°C in the afternoon and slips back to 20°C overnight — a 13°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 29°C and 36°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs on par with December and about 3°C cooler than February.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	33	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34
Avg low (°C)	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	33	19
2	32	19
3	32	19
4	32	19
5	32	19
6	32	19
7	32	19
8	32	19
9	32	19
10	32	19
11	32	19
12	33	19
13	33	19
14	33	19
15	33	19
16	33	19
17	33	20
18	33	20
19	33	20
20	33	20
21	33	20
22	33	20
23	34	20
24	34	20
25	34	20
26	34	20
27	34	20
28	34	21
29	34	21
30	34	21
31	34	21

How January really feels in Gao

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 31 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

The story in January is heat — humidity pushes the afternoon "feels like" well above the raw temperature.

Gao weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 9th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	33° / 20°	0	0.1	11.4	4.6
Feb	36° / 22°	1	0.3	11.6	2.9
Mar	38° / 26°	4	1.3	11.9	1.2
Apr	38° / 27°	23	5.3	12.3	1.0
May	36° / 26°	46	9.8	12.5	2.0
Jun	33° / 25°	65	12.3	12.7	3.2
Jul	31° / 23°	139	19.6	12.6	3.6
Aug	29° / 23°	220	24.1	12.4	3.5
Sep	30° / 23°	140	18.7	12.1	3.8
Oct	33° / 23°	43	8	11.7	3.5
Nov	35° / 21°	2	0.4	11.5	3.1
Dec	34° / 20°	0	0	11.3	4.2

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 67% of the time in January, the clearest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 18%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	84	84	84	83	83	83	82	82	82	82	81	81	80	80	80	80	80	80	80	81	81	81	81	81	81	83	83	83	83	83	84
Cloudier (%)	16	16	16	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	17	17	17	17	17	16

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	84	16
2	84	16
3	84	16
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	83	17
7	82	18
8	82	18
9	82	18
10	82	18
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	80	20
14	80	20
15	80	20
16	80	20
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	80	20
20	81	19
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	83	17
29	83	17
30	83	17
31	84	16

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Gao gets around 0 mm of rain over 0.1 wet days in January. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 0% and peaks near 1% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Rain chance (%)
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	0
6	0
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	1
23	1
24	1
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

Humidity in January

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of January feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, January lands in the dry band about 99% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	100	100	100
Humid (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0

	Dry (%)	Humid (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

Wind in January

Winds average 12 km/h in January, the windiest month of the year.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 12 km/h on the calmest days to 12 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	12	calm
2	12	calm
3	12	calm
4	12	calm
5	12	calm
6	12	calm
7	12	calm
8	12	calm
9	12	calm
10	12	calm
11	12	calm
12	12	calm
13	12	calm
14	12	calm
15	12	calm
16	12	calm
17	12	calm
18	12	calm
19	12	calm
20	12	calm
21	12	calm
22	12	calm
23	12	calm
24	12	calm
25	12	calm
26	12	light breeze
27	12	light breeze
28	12	light breeze
29	12	light breeze
30	12	light breeze
31	12	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 18 min at the start of January to 11 h 30 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 12 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 6:32 AM to 6:37 AM, and sunset from 5:52 PM to 6:07 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.3	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.4	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.5	11.5
Sunrise (AM)	6:32	6:32	6:33	6:33	6:33	6:34	6:34	6:34	6:35	6:35	6:35	6:36	6:36	6:36	6:36	6:36	6:37	6:37	6:37	6:37	6:37	6:37	6:37	6:37	6:38	6:38	6:38	6:38	6:38	6:38	6:37
Sunset (PM)	5:52	5:52	5:53	5:53	5:54	5:54	5:55	5:55	5:56	5:56	5:57	5:57	5:58	5:59	5:59	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:02	6:02	6:03	6:03	6:03	6:04	6:04	6:05	6:05	6:06	6:06	6:07

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.3	6:32	5:52
2	11.3	6:32	5:52
3	11.3	6:33	5:53
4	11.3	6:33	5:53
5	11.3	6:33	5:54
6	11.3	6:34	5:54
7	11.3	6:34	5:55
8	11.3	6:34	5:55
9	11.4	6:35	5:56
10	11.4	6:35	5:56
11	11.4	6:35	5:57
12	11.4	6:36	5:57
13	11.4	6:36	5:58
14	11.4	6:36	5:59
15	11.4	6:36	5:59
16	11.4	6:36	6:00
17	11.4	6:37	6:00
18	11.4	6:37	6:01
19	11.4	6:37	6:01
20	11.4	6:37	6:02
21	11.4	6:37	6:02
22	11.4	6:37	6:03
23	11.4	6:37	6:03
24	11.4	6:37	6:03
25	11.4	6:38	6:04
26	11.4	6:38	6:04
27	11.5	6:38	6:05
28	11.5	6:38	6:05
29	11.5	6:38	6:06
30	11.5	6:38	6:06
31	11.5	6:37	6:07

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 5.86 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.83 kWh/m² to a high of 6.64 kWh/m² in March across the year — January's 5.86 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.1
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.8	Bright
2	5.8	Bright
3	5.8	Bright
4	5.8	Bright
5	5.8	Bright
6	5.8	Bright
7	5.8	Bright
8	5.8	Bright
9	5.8	Bright
10	5.8	Bright
11	5.8	Bright
12	5.8	Bright
13	5.8	Bright
14	5.8	Bright
15	5.8	Bright
16	5.8	Bright
17	5.9	Bright
18	5.9	Bright
19	5.9	Bright
20	5.9	Bright
21	5.9	Bright
22	5.9	Bright
23	5.9	Bright
24	6.0	Bright
25	6.0	Bright
26	6.0	Bright
27	6.0	Intense
28	6.0	Intense
29	6.0	Intense
30	6.0	Intense
31	6.1	Intense

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Gao

In seasonPeak

None of Gao's seasonal hazards are active in January. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Gao's monsoon runs July–September, when most of the year's rain falls.

Gao sees seasonal dust haze (February–June), heaviest in March.

Monsoon

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Gao?

Our two travel scores rate January for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.6

Sightseeing

1st-best month of the year

8.0

Beach & pool

1st-best month of the year

January is a reasonable time to visit Gao for sightseeing. The water and warmth also suit a beach or pool day.

What to pack for Gao in January

From January's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In January, Gao sees daytime highs around 33°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: sun protection.

light clothessun protection

UV index in Gao in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 9 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Gao peaks around March 16 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 13 at about 9 (very high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	9	12	14	11	12	11	11	12	12	11	9	9
Level	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	9	Very high
Feb	12	Extreme
Mar	14	Extreme
Apr	11	Extreme
May	12	Extreme
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	12	Extreme
Sep	12	Extreme
Oct	11	Extreme
Nov	9	Very high
Dec	9	Very high

Air quality in Gao in January

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where January falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Gao is worst in February — around 74 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 5.1× the cleanest month (August, 15 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	63	74	70	52	28	22	16	15	21	32	43	57
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	63	Unhealthy
Feb	74	Unhealthy
Mar	70	Unhealthy
Apr	52	Poor
May	28	Moderate
Jun	22	Moderate
Jul	16	Moderate
Aug	15	Moderate
Sep	21	Moderate
Oct	32	Moderate
Nov	43	Poor
Dec	57	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Gao?

Gao sits at 11.6°N, 2.2°W, 325 m above sea level, in Burkina Faso. The nearest listed city is Tô, 23 km away.

Topography around Gao

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Gao.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Gao has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 44 m around an average of 332 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 84 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 187 m.

The land around Gao is covered by shrubs (41%), cropland (33%) and grassland (26%) within 3 km, cropland (48%), shrubs (32%) and grassland (20%) within 16 km, and cropland (49%), shrubs (28%) and grassland (22%) within 80 km.

3 km

44 m

shrubs 41%

16 km

84 m

cropland 48%

80 km

187 m

cropland 49%

shrubsgrasslandcropland

← December Gao year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

January weather nearby: Tô 23 km · Sapouy 45 km · Sabou 47 km · Tita 48 km · Léo 62 km · Fara Department 66 km · Kokologo 69 km · Koudougou 70 km

Burkina Faso travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 4; Do Not Travel
Power plugs: Type C / E; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 37% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $1,148; 2025
Happiness: 4.5 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate: 1.3; per 100k, 2017
Road deaths: 31; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Gao (11.6497°, -2.1778°, elevation 325 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	33	19
2	32	19
3	32	19
4	32	19
5	32	19
6	32	19
7	32	19
8	32	19
9	32	19
10	32	19
11	32	19
12	33	19
13	33	19
14	33	19
15	33	19
16	33	19
17	33	20
18	33	20
19	33	20
20	33	20
21	33	20
22	33	20
23	34	20
24	34	20
25	34	20
26	34	20
27	34	20
28	34	21
29	34	21
30	34	21
31	34	21

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	84	16
2	84	16
3	84	16
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	83	17
7	82	18
8	82	18
9	82	18
10	82	18
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	80	20
14	80	20
15	80	20
16	80	20
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	80	20
20	81	19
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	83	17
29	83	17
30	83	17
31	84	16

	Rain chance (%)
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	0
6	0
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	1
23	1
24	1
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

	Dry (%)	Humid (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	33	19
2	32	19
3	32	19
4	32	19
5	32	19
6	32	19
7	32	19
8	32	19
9	32	19
10	32	19
11	32	19
12	33	19
13	33	19
14	33	19
15	33	19
16	33	19
17	33	20
18	33	20
19	33	20
20	33	20
21	33	20
22	33	20
23	34	20
24	34	20
25	34	20
26	34	20
27	34	20
28	34	21
29	34	21
30	34	21
31	34	21

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	84	16
2	84	16
3	84	16
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	83	17
7	82	18
8	82	18
9	82	18
10	82	18
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	80	20
14	80	20
15	80	20
16	80	20
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	80	20
20	81	19
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	83	17
29	83	17
30	83	17
31	84	16

	Rain chance (%)
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	0
6	0
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	1
23	1
24	1
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

	Dry (%)	Humid (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	33	19
2	32	19
3	32	19
4	32	19
5	32	19
6	32	19
7	32	19
8	32	19
9	32	19
10	32	19
11	32	19
12	33	19
13	33	19
14	33	19
15	33	19
16	33	19
17	33	20
18	33	20
19	33	20
20	33	20
21	33	20
22	33	20
23	34	20
24	34	20
25	34	20
26	34	20
27	34	20
28	34	21
29	34	21
30	34	21
31	34	21

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	84	16
2	84	16
3	84	16
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	83	17
7	82	18
8	82	18
9	82	18
10	82	18
11	81	19
12	81	19
13	80	20
14	80	20
15	80	20
16	80	20
17	80	20
18	80	20
19	80	20
20	81	19
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	81	19
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	83	17
29	83	17
30	83	17
31	84	16

	Rain chance (%)
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	0
6	0
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	1
23	1
24	1
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

	Dry (%)	Humid (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0