Climate and average weather in Garoua

In Garoua, the summers are sweltering, 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 Garoua typically varies from 18°C to 39°C, and is rarely below 15°C or above 42°C. March is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Mar
39°
Coldest
Aug
23°
Wettest
Aug
182 mm
Driest
Jan
0 mm
Rain / yr
630 mm
96 wet days
Daylight
11.5–12.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
199 m
9.3°N
Clearest
Dec
31% cloud

Garoua is city in Cameroon.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Garoua 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 Garoua, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 2.3 months, from February 24 to May 4, with daily high temperatures above 38°C. The hottest month of the year in Garoua is March, with an average high of 39°C and low of 25°C.

The cool season lasts 2.7 months, from July 8 to September 28, with daily high temperatures below 32°C. The coldest month of the year in Garoua is August, with an average low of 23°C and high of 30°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 16°C) in February.

15°20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3418
Feb3721
Mar3925
Apr3927
May3627
Jun3425
Jul3124
Aug3023
Sep3123
Oct3424
Nov3621
Dec3418

How hot and cold Garoua 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, Garoua feels like about 41°C (around April 30). Nearly every day a year carries some heat stress, and 86 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in April.

15°20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan34341818
Feb37372121
Mar39392525
Apr40392727
May40362727
Jun38342525
Jul35312424
Aug34302323
Sep35312323
Oct37342424
Nov36362121
Dec34341818

Average hourly temperature in Garoua

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 March afternoons, near 39°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 23°C.

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

Garoua 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
Jan34° / 18°0011.53.9
Feb37° / 21°0011.72.2
Mar39° / 25°10.211.90.4
Apr39° / 27°173.912.20.4
May36° / 27°6011.212.41.7
Jun34° / 25°7212.712.52.9
Jul31° / 24°12418.812.53.3
Aug30° / 23°18222.212.33.4
Sep31° / 23°12018.312.13.5
Oct34° / 24°548.411.83.3
Nov36° / 21°10.411.62.7
Dec34° / 18°0011.53.8

Chance of rain

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

Garoua gets about 630 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 5.5 months, from around May 1 to Oct 15, peaking in August at about 73% 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 182 mm over about 22 wet days; January is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 21 · 73%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar10
Apr134
May3511
Jun4313
Jul6119
Aug7122
Sep6118
Oct278
Nov20
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Garoua collects about 630 mm of rain across 96 wet days — roughly 53 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 182 mm, while January is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 68% of the year’s total.

050100150200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1176072124182120541
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar10
Apr174
May6011
Jun7213
Jul12419
Aug18222
Sep12018
Oct548
Nov10
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Garoua, 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 19 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around April 10. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 79% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 11 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around October 18. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 83% 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 20 · 81%Aug 9 · 17%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7129
Feb6733
Mar5842
Apr4753
May4654
Jun4654
Jul3070
Aug1783
Sep2872
Oct4951
Nov6733
Dec7921

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 21, brings about 12 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 1 hour.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.56:306:01
Feb11.76:306:12
Mar11.96:186:14
Apr12.26:006:13
May12.45:506:15
Jun12.55:506:23
Jul12.55:576:27
Aug12.36:016:20
Sep12.15:596:02
Oct11.85:585:45
Nov11.66:055:39
Dec11.56:195:46

Sunny days

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

Garoua averages about 10 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.6 months, from around Oct 21 to Apr 7. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 2 sunny days — about 92% fewer than the December peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantDec 2120 daysAug 251 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb14Bright
Mar12Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May8Mixed
Jun8Mixed
Jul3Gloomy
Aug2Gloomy
Sep3Gloomy
Oct9Mixed
Nov15Bright
Dec20Bright

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 Garoua, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around April 13 to November 3. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 97% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 4 to April 12, 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 14 · 100%May 26 · 0%comfortablemuggydryoppressivehumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan10000000
Feb9721000
Mar8079400
Apr2971932130
May21433600
Jun00010881
Jul0005941
Aug0001981
Sep0000973
Oct34613713
Nov5915111060
Dec9811000

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.

Wind in Garoua is steady company: average speeds sit near 7 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 7 · 9 km/hOct 6 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8calm
Mar8calm
Apr8calm
May8calm
Jun7calm
Jul8calm
Aug7calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Hazard calendar for Garoua

In seasonPeak

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

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

Garoua sees seasonal dust haze (February–May), heaviest in March.

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

Best time to visit Garoua

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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 Garoua for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid December to late January, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 2 · 4.4

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
Jan3.9fair
Feb2.2poor
Mar0.5poor
Apr0.4poor
May1.7poor
Jun2.9poor
Jul3.3poor
Aug3.4poor
Sep3.5poor
Oct3.2poor
Nov2.8poor
Dec3.8fair

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 Garoua for hot-weather activities is from late November to early February, with a peak score in the last week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 31 · 8.0

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 Garoua, 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 March (highs near 39°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 March, Garoua sees daytime highs around 39°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Garoua 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 Garoua peaks around August 22 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 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 highExtremeExtremeVery highAug 22UV 12Dec 18UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May10Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Garoua

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 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)
Jan75
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr7.55.5
May7.55.5
Jun7.55.5
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov75
Dec6.54

Air quality in Garoua 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 Garoua is worst in February — around 78 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 5.2× the cleanest month (July, 15 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyModerateFeb 1477 µg/m³Jul 2115 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan76Unhealthy
Feb78Unhealthy
Mar75Unhealthy
Apr52Poor
May26Moderate
Jun20Moderate
Jul15Moderate
Aug16Moderate
Sep17Moderate
Oct27Moderate
Nov34Moderate
Dec64Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Garoua 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. Garoua banks about 6,844 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)
Jan493
Feb519
Mar681
Apr698
May666
Jun578
Jul546
Aug517
Sep514
Oct576
Nov552
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.

Garoua receives about 6.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.8 and 7.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 7.0 months, from around Oct 26 to May 26. The brightest month is March, averaging about 7.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 4.8 kWh/m² — roughly 31% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 247.0 kWhAug 144.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.3Intense
Feb6.7Intense
Mar7.0Intense
Apr6.7Intense
May6.2Intense
Jun5.8Bright
Jul5.3Bright
Aug4.8Bright
Sep5.4Bright
Oct5.9Bright
Nov6.3Intense
Dec6.1Intense

Where is Garoua?

Garoua sits at 9.3°N, 13.4°E, 199 m above sea level, in Cameroon. The nearest listed city is Pitoa, 15 km away.

FiguilGuiderLéréMboursou LéréYola

Topography around Garoua

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Garoua has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 77 m around an average of 194 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 540 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,057 m.

The land around Garoua is covered by artificial surfaces (40%) within 3 km, cropland (49%) and shrubs (20%) within 16 km, and cropland (42%) and shrubs (37%) within 80 km.

3 km
77 m
16 km
540 m
80 km
1,057 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Pitoa 15 km · Tchéboa 38 km · Lagdo 40 km · Figuil 80 km · Guider 93 km · Léré 97 km · Mboursou Léré 98 km · Yola 101 km

Cameroon travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 34% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,972
2025
Happiness
5.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
6.8
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
30.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Very low
EF EPI 445
Religion
Roman Catholic 33%Muslim 31%Protestant 27%animist 1%

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 Garoua (9.3014°, 13.3977°, elevation 199 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).