Climate and average weather in Bafatá

In Bafatá, the summers are sweltering, dry, and mostly clear and the winters are hot and mostly cloudy.

Best: late October to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Bafatá typically varies from 19°C to 39°C, and is rarely below 16°C or above 40°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 Bafatá for warm-weather activities are from early January to late January and late October to late December.

Hottest
Apr
39°
Coldest
Aug
24°
Wettest
Aug
351 mm
Driest
Mar
0 mm
Rain / yr
1095 mm
111 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
20 m
12.2°N
Clearest
Mar
28% cloud

Bafatá is town in Guinea-Bissau.

Density
40/km²
people per km²
Founded
1860

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

Bafatá 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 late October to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.4 months, from February 20 to June 1, with daily high temperatures above 37°C. The hottest month of the year in Bafatá is April, with an average high of 39°C and low of 24°C.

The cool season lasts 2.8 months, from July 5 to September 27, with daily high temperatures below 32°C. The coldest month of the year in Bafatá is August, with an average low of 24°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)
Jan3419
Feb3621
Mar3823
Apr3924
May3825
Jun3525
Jul3124
Aug3024
Sep3124
Oct3324
Nov3422
Dec3419

How hot and cold Bafatá 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, Bafatá feels like about 41°C (around May 17). Nearly every day a year carries some heat stress, and 129 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)
Jan34341919
Feb36362121
Mar38382323
Apr40392424
May41382525
Jun40352525
Jul37312424
Aug36302424
Sep38312424
Oct40332424
Nov37342222
Dec34341919

Average hourly temperature in Bafatá

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 39°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 24°C.

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

Bafatá 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° / 19°00.111.43.9
Feb36° / 21°10.111.62.5
Mar38° / 23°0011.91.3
Apr39° / 24°0012.30.9
May38° / 25°81.612.61.3
Jun35° / 25°7811.212.72.5
Jul31° / 24°27525.312.62.7
Aug30° / 24°35128.312.42.7
Sep31° / 24°26425.212.12.6
Oct33° / 24°10416.311.73.1
Nov34° / 22°132.511.43.8
Dec34° / 19°10.311.34.0

Chance of rain

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

Bafatá gets about 1095 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.6 months, from around Jun 12 to Oct 29, peaking in August at about 92% 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 351 mm over about 28 wet days; March is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 20 · 92%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr00
May62
Jun3811
Jul8025
Aug9128
Sep8325
Oct5216
Nov103
Dec10

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Bafatá collects about 1095 mm of rain across 111 wet days — roughly 91 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 351 mm, while March is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 81% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0100878275351264104131
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb10
Mar00
Apr00
May82
Jun7811
Jul27525
Aug35128
Sep26425
Oct10416
Nov133
Dec10

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Bafatá, 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 28 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around May 29. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 82% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 30 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around October 27. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 94% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 2 · 83%Aug 23 · 5%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7129
Feb7624
Mar8218
Apr7921
May6535
Jun3070
Jul991
Aug694
Sep1585
Oct4060
Nov5941
Dec6337

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 30, 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)
Jan11.47:276:49
Feb11.67:257:01
Mar11.97:117:06
Apr12.36:517:07
May12.66:387:12
Jun12.76:387:20
Jul12.66:457:24
Aug12.46:517:15
Sep12.16:516:55
Oct11.76:526:35
Nov11.47:016:27
Dec11.37:166:33

Sunny days

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

Bafatá averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.8 months, from around Nov 2 to May 28. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 0 sunny days — about 100% fewer than the March peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantMar 3121 daysAug 120 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb17Bright
Mar21Bright
Apr19Bright
May15Bright
Jun5Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep1Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov13Mixed
Dec15Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.3 months, from around April 17 to November 25. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 26 to April 16, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 91% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 11 · 92%Jun 13 · 0%miserablemuggyoppressivedryhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan77147300
Feb631815500
Mar3520261910
Apr918303940
May041946292
Jun002105632
Jul00004851
Aug00004753
Sep00004060
Oct00002574
Nov6813163721
Dec5220131140

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 Bafatá is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 8.0 months, from around Dec 12 to Aug 10. The windiest month is May, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 11 to Dec 11, with October the calmest month at about 6 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMay 22 · 10 km/hOct 30 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb9calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May10calm
Jun9calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Bafatá

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

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

Best time to visit Bafatá

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early November, Bafatá is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 3 · 4.2

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
Feb2.5poor
Mar1.3poor
Apr0.9poor
May1.3poor
Jun2.5poor
Jul2.7poor
Aug2.7poor
Sep2.6poor
Oct3.1poor
Nov3.8fair
Dec4.0fair

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 Bafatá for hot-weather activities is from late October to mid February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 7 · 7.7

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 Bafatá, 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 39°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around August (highs near 30°C), pack light clothes and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, Bafatá sees daytime highs around 39°C and nights near 24°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Bafatá 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 Bafatá peaks around August 18 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 7 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highAug 18UV 13Dec 19UV 7
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun12Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec7Very high

Average hourly UV index in Bafatá

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 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)
Jan6.53.5
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr85.5
May85.5
Jun8.56
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec63

Air quality in Bafatá 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 Bafatá is worst in February — around 81 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 5.5× the cleanest month (August, 15 µg/m³).

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

0306090JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorFeb 1980 µg/m³Aug 2115 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan56Unhealthy
Feb81Unhealthy
Mar74Unhealthy
Apr49Poor
May53Poor
Jun43Poor
Jul21Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep17Moderate
Oct32Moderate
Nov41Poor
Dec52Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Bafatá 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. Bafatá banks about 6,775 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan512
Feb513
Mar629
Apr642
May670
Jun598
Jul549
Aug530
Sep524
Oct565
Nov532
Dec510

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.

Bafatá receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.1 and 7.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around Jan 15 to Jun 13. The brightest month is April, averaging about 7.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 4.1 kWh/m² — roughly 41% less than the April peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 147.1 kWhAug 234.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.6Bright
Feb6.1Intense
Mar6.8Intense
Apr7.0Intense
May6.8Intense
Jun5.4Bright
Jul4.4Bright
Aug4.1Bright
Sep4.4Bright
Oct5.0Bright
Nov5.5Bright
Dec5.3Bright

Where is Bafatá?

Bafatá sits at 12.2°N, 14.7°W, 20 m above sea level, in Guinea-Bissau. The nearest listed city is Gabú, 49 km away.

GabúXitoleReino de AntulaSanta-LuziaLuandaBissau

Topography around Bafatá

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Bafatá has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 50 m around an average of 20 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 71 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 230 m.

The land around Bafatá is covered by trees (38%) and cropland (26%) within 3 km, trees (69%) within 16 km, and trees (75%) within 80 km.

3 km
50 m
16 km
71 m
80 km
230 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Gabú 49 km · Xitole 51 km · Kolda 86 km · Diaoubé 99 km · Reino de Antula 104 km · Santa-Luzia 106 km · Luanda 107 km · Bissau 107 km

Guinea-Bissau travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 3
Reconsider Travel
Power plugs
Type C / E / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 34% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,124
2025
Safe drinking water
24%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.1
per 100k, 2017
Road deaths
32.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
Religion
Muslim 46%folk religions 31%Christian 19%other or unaffiliated 4%

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 Bafatá (12.1658°, -14.6617°, elevation 20 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).