Climate and average weather in Sabou

In Sabou, the summers are sweltering, fairly dry, and partly cloudy and the winters are hot and mostly cloudy.

Best: early January to late January

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Sabou typically varies from 19°C to 38°C, and is rarely below 16°C or above 41°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Sabou for warm-weather activities are from early January to late January and mid December to late December.

Hottest
Apr
38°
Coldest
Aug
23°
Wettest
Aug
214 mm
Driest
Dec
0 mm
Rain / yr
637 mm
92 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
296 m
12.1°N
Clearest
Jan
29% cloud

Sabou weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early January to late January.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Sabou, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 2.7 months, from February 25 to May 18, with daily high temperatures above 36°C. The hottest month of the year in Sabou is April, with an average high of 38°C and low of 27°C.

The cool season lasts 2.5 months, from July 10 to September 23, with daily high temperatures below 31°C. The coldest month of the year in Sabou is August, with an average low of 23°C and high of 30°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in November.

15°20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3319
Feb3522
Mar3825
Apr3827
May3727
Jun3425
Jul3124
Aug3023
Sep3123
Oct3423
Nov3521
Dec3319

How hot and cold Sabou really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Sabou feels like about 41°C (around May 11). About 353 days a year carry some heat stress, and 49 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in May.

15°20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan32331919
Feb35352222
Mar38382525
Apr39382727
May40372727
Jun38342525
Jul35312424
Aug33302323
Sep35312323
Oct37342323
Nov35352121
Dec33331919

Average hourly temperature in Sabou

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on April afternoons, near 38°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 23°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Sabou weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan33° / 19°00.111.45.0
Feb35° / 22°10.211.63.1
Mar38° / 25°31.211.91.4
Apr38° / 27°184.312.31.0
May37° / 27°398.512.51.8
Jun34° / 25°591112.73.2
Jul31° / 24°13318.512.63.6
Aug30° / 23°21423.112.43.5
Sep31° / 23°13217.512.13.7
Oct34° / 23°387.211.73.4
Nov35° / 21°20.211.43.2
Dec33° / 19°0011.34.5

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Sabou gets about 637 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.2 months, from around May 11 to Oct 14, peaking in August at about 75% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 1.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 214 mm over about 23 wet days; December is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 20 · 75%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb10
Mar41
Apr144
May279
Jun3711
Jul5919
Aug7423
Sep5818
Oct237
Nov20
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Sabou collects about 637 mm of rain across 92 wet days — roughly 53 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 214 mm, while December is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 75% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0131839591332141323820
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb10
Mar31
Apr184
May399
Jun5911
Jul13319
Aug21423
Sep13218
Oct387
Nov20
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Sabou, 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 September 27 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around March 19. The clearest month is January, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 27 and lasts for 3.0 months, ending around September 26. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 78% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 26 · 84%Aug 16 · 19%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8119
Feb7723
Mar6238
Apr4951
May5050
Jun6139
Jul3664
Aug2278
Sep4456
Oct6832
Nov7327
Dec8020

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around May 31, brings about 12 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.46:375:59
Feb11.66:356:12
Mar11.96:216:16
Apr12.36:016:17
May12.55:496:22
Jun12.75:486:30
Jul12.65:556:34
Aug12.46:016:25
Sep12.16:016:05
Oct11.76:025:46
Nov11.46:115:37
Dec11.36:265:44

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Sabou averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around Sep 29 to Mar 20. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 2 sunny days — about 91% fewer than the January peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJan 3122 daysAug 101 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan21Bright
Feb18Bright
Mar14Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May9Mixed
Jun11Mixed
Jul5Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep7Gloomy
Oct15Mixed
Nov18Bright
Dec21Bright

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Sabou, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around April 12 to November 2. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 98% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 3 to April 11, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 2 · 100%May 19 · 0%humidcomfortableoppressivedrymuggycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan9900000
Feb9522100
Mar74911510
Apr249203790
May11645480
Jun00015851
Jul0003970
Aug0000991
Sep0000946
Oct44821603
Nov641311930
Dec9821000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

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 Sabou is typically calm, near 9 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around Nov 27 to Mar 26. The windiest month is February, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 10 to Nov 26, with September the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 3 · 12 km/hSep 17 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb11calm
Mar10calm
Apr10calm
May10calm
Jun10calm
Jul9calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct7calm
Nov9calm
Dec11calm

Hazard calendar for Sabou

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

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

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

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

Best time to visit Sabou

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Sabou throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late January, Sabou is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Sabou for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid December to late January, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 5 · 5.3

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan4.9fair
Feb3.1poor
Mar1.4poor
Apr1.0poor
May1.8poor
Jun3.1poor
Jul3.6fair
Aug3.5fair
Sep3.7fair
Oct3.4poor
Nov3.2poor
Dec4.5fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Sabou for hot-weather activities is from mid November to mid February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 5 · 8.4

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Sabou, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around April (highs near 38°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around August (highs near 30°C), pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, Sabou sees daytime highs around 38°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Sabou by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Sabou peaks around March 16 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 8 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highMar 16UV 14Dec 17UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar14Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Sabou

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan74.5
Feb7.55.5
Mar86.5
Apr85.5
May86
Jun85.5
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55
Nov74.5
Dec6.54

Air quality in Sabou by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Sabou 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).

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorFeb 1973 µg/m³Aug 1115 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan63Unhealthy
Feb74Unhealthy
Mar70Unhealthy
Apr52Poor
May28Moderate
Jun22Moderate
Jul16Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep21Moderate
Oct32Moderate
Nov43Poor
Dec57Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Sabou is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Sabou banks about 6,772 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around April.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan492
Feb522
Mar667
Apr681
May669
Jun577
Jul534
Aug504
Sep506
Oct574
Nov542
Dec503

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

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.

Sabou receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.9 and 6.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.0 months, from around Jan 28 to Jun 29. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 5.0 kWh/m² — roughly 25% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 266.7 kWhAug 184.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.8Bright
Feb6.3Intense
Mar6.7Intense
Apr6.6Intense
May6.5Intense
Jun6.3Intense
Jul5.5Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep5.6Bright
Oct6.0Bright
Nov6.0Bright
Dec5.7Bright

Where is Sabou?

Sabou sits at 12.1°N, 2.2°W, 296 m above sea level, in Burkina Faso. The nearest listed city is Koudougou, 25 km away.

Zinguédéssé

Topography around Sabou

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sabou has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 28 m around an average of 298 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 105 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 301 m.

The land around Sabou is covered by cropland (42%) and grassland (34%) within 3 km, cropland (50%) and grassland (39%) within 16 km, and cropland (42%), grassland (31%) and shrubs (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
28 m
16 km
105 m
80 km
301 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Koudougou 25 km · Tita 35 km · Réo 38 km · Kokologo 41 km · Kindi 47 km · Gao 47 km · 69 km · Zinguédéssé 73 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
Muslim 64%Roman Catholic 20%Animiste 9%Protestant 6%

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 Sabou (12.0667°, -2.2333°, elevation 296 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).