Gao weather in December

In December, Gao sees average daytime highs of 32°C and overnight lows near 17°C, with 0 mm of rain across 0 wet days and about 11 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 34°C in the first days to 30°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 60% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 06 min at the start of December to 11 hours by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Gao's 7th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Gao's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 32°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 17°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 0 mm; 0 wet days
Daylight: 11 hours; 6:25 AM – 5:27 PM
Cloud cover: 35%; 7th clearest
Wind: 16 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 5.33 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.3; out of 10

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

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

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs ease over the month, from about 34°C in the first days to 30°C by the end.

A typical December day in Gao reaches about 32°C in the afternoon and slips back to 17°C overnight — a 15°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 28°C and 35°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs about 4°C cooler than November and about 2°C warmer than January.

	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)	34	34	34	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	30	30	30	30
Avg low (°C)	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15

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

How December really feels in Gao

Once humidity and wind are folded in, December averages 14 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 December is heat — humidity pushes the afternoon "feels like" well above the raw temperature.

Gao weather by month

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

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	30° / 16°	0	0.1	11.1	6.3
Feb	33° / 18°	0	0	11.5	4.3
Mar	37° / 22°	0	0	11.9	1.8
Apr	41° / 26°	1	0.2	12.4	0.0
May	42° / 29°	2	0.8	12.7	0.0
Jun	41° / 30°	8	2.8	12.9	0.0
Jul	39° / 28°	31	8	12.9	0.8
Aug	37° / 27°	56	11.3	12.5	1.7
Sep	39° / 27°	16	4.3	12.1	0.9
Oct	39° / 26°	3	0.8	11.6	0.7
Nov	36° / 21°	0	0	11.2	2.7
Dec	32° / 17°	0	0	11	5.3

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 60% of the time in December.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 13% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 28%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	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 (%)	70	71	71	70	70	70	70	71	71	71	71	71	71	72	72	72	73	73	73	73	74	74	74	75	75	75	75	75	74	74	74
Cloudier (%)	30	29	29	30	30	30	30	29	29	29	29	29	29	28	28	28	27	27	27	27	26	26	26	25	25	25	25	25	26	26	26

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	71	29
3	71	29
4	70	30
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	71	29
11	71	29
12	71	29
13	71	29
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	72	28
17	73	27
18	73	27
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	74	26
22	74	26
23	74	26
24	75	25
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	75	25
29	74	26
30	74	26
31	74	26

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Gao gets around 0 mm of rain over 0 wet days in December. 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 0% 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	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	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	0
17	0
18	0
19	0
20	0
21	0
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, December lands in the dry band about 100% 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	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

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

Wind in December

Winds average 16 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 15 km/h on the calmest days to 17 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)	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	17
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

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

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 06 min at the start of December to 11 hours by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 6 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 6:17 AM to 6:32 AM, and sunset from 5:23 PM to 5:35 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)	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0
Sunrise (AM)	6:17	6:17	6:18	6:19	6:19	6:20	6:20	6:21	6:21	6:22	6:23	6:23	6:24	6:24	6:25	6:25	6:26	6:26	6:27	6:27	6:28	6:28	6:29	6:29	6:30	6:30	6:30	6:31	6:31	6:32	6:32
Sunset (PM)	5:23	5:23	5:23	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:25	5:25	5:25	5:26	5:26	5:26	5:27	5:27	5:27	5:28	5:28	5:29	5:29	5:30	5:30	5:31	5:31	5:32	5:32	5:33	5:33	5:34	5:34	5:35

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.1	6:17	5:23
2	11.1	6:17	5:23
3	11.1	6:18	5:23
4	11.1	6:19	5:24
5	11.1	6:19	5:24
6	11.1	6:20	5:24
7	11.1	6:20	5:24
8	11.1	6:21	5:25
9	11.1	6:21	5:25
10	11.1	6:22	5:25
11	11.1	6:23	5:26
12	11.0	6:23	5:26
13	11.0	6:24	5:26
14	11.0	6:24	5:27
15	11.0	6:25	5:27
16	11.0	6:25	5:27
17	11.0	6:26	5:28
18	11.0	6:26	5:28
19	11.0	6:27	5:29
20	11.0	6:27	5:29
21	11.0	6:28	5:30
22	11.0	6:28	5:30
23	11.0	6:29	5:31
24	11.0	6:29	5:31
25	11.0	6:30	5:32
26	11.0	6:30	5:32
27	11.0	6:30	5:33
28	11.0	6:31	5:33
29	11.0	6:31	5:34
30	11.0	6:32	5:34
31	11.0	6:32	5:35

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 5.33 kWh/m² — the year's lowest.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 5.33 kWh/m² to a high of 7.3 kWh/m² in April across the year — December's 5.33 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	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)	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3
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	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.5	Bright
2	5.5	Bright
3	5.4	Bright
4	5.4	Bright
5	5.4	Bright
6	5.4	Bright
7	5.4	Bright
8	5.4	Bright
9	5.3	Bright
10	5.3	Bright
11	5.3	Bright
12	5.3	Bright
13	5.3	Bright
14	5.3	Bright
15	5.3	Bright
16	5.3	Bright
17	5.3	Bright
18	5.3	Bright
19	5.3	Bright
20	5.3	Bright
21	5.3	Bright
22	5.3	Bright
23	5.3	Bright
24	5.3	Bright
25	5.3	Bright
26	5.3	Bright
27	5.3	Bright
28	5.3	Bright
29	5.3	Bright
30	5.3	Bright
31	5.3	Bright

Planning a trip in December

Hazard calendar for Gao

In seasonPeak

In December, Gao sits inside its dust season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Gao sees dust haze year-round, heaviest in June.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is December a good time to visit Gao?

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

5.3

Sightseeing

2nd-best month of the year

8.3

Beach & pool

2nd-best month of the year

December 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 December

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

In December, Gao sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 17°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: sun protection.

light clothessun protection

UV index in Gao in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 7 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Gao peaks around August 19 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 7 (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)	8	10	13	11	11	10	9	13	11	11	8	7
Level	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	8	Very high
Feb	10	Extreme
Mar	13	Extreme
Apr	11	Extreme
May	11	Extreme
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	9	Very high
Aug	13	Extreme
Sep	11	Extreme
Oct	11	Extreme
Nov	8	Very high
Dec	7	Very high

Air quality in Gao in December

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

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

Air quality in Gao is worst in February — around 101 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.7× the cleanest month (September, 37 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)	98	101	94	74	77	77	60	41	37	48	58	88
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor	Poor	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	98	Unhealthy
Feb	101	Unhealthy
Mar	94	Unhealthy
Apr	74	Unhealthy
May	77	Unhealthy
Jun	77	Unhealthy
Jul	60	Unhealthy
Aug	41	Poor
Sep	37	Poor
Oct	48	Poor
Nov	58	Unhealthy
Dec	88	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Gao?

Gao sits at 16.3°N, 0.0°W, 257 m above sea level, in Mali. The nearest listed city is Bourem, 83 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 13 m around an average of 251 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 65 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 149 m.

The land around Gao is covered by artificial surfaces (38%) within 3 km, grassland (65%) within 16 km, and grassland (60%) and bare terrain (36%) within 80 km.

3 km

13 m

artificial surfaces 38%

16 km

65 m

grassland 65%

80 km

149 m

grassland 60%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland

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

December weather nearby: Bourem 83 km · I-n-Tillit 92 km · Ayorou 200 km · Aribinda 244 km · Méhana 244 km · Dori 249 km · Téra 266 km · Tillabéri 280 km

Mali travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 4; Do Not Travel
Power plugs: Type C / E; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 34% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $1,193; 2025
Happiness: 4.6 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Road deaths: 22.7; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank
English: Very low; EF EPI 408
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 (16.2717°, -0.0447°, elevation 257 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	34	19
2	34	19
3	34	18
4	33	18
5	33	18
6	33	18
7	33	18
8	33	18
9	33	18
10	33	18
11	32	18
12	32	17
13	32	17
14	32	17
15	32	17
16	32	17
17	32	17
18	32	17
19	32	17
20	31	17
21	31	16
22	31	16
23	31	16
24	31	16
25	31	16
26	31	16
27	31	16
28	30	16
29	30	16
30	30	16
31	30	15

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	71	29
3	71	29
4	70	30
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	71	29
11	71	29
12	71	29
13	71	29
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	72	28
17	73	27
18	73	27
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	74	26
22	74	26
23	74	26
24	75	25
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	75	25
29	74	26
30	74	26
31	74	26

	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	0
17	0
18	0
19	0
20	0
21	0
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	71	29
3	71	29
4	70	30
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	71	29
11	71	29
12	71	29
13	71	29
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	72	28
17	73	27
18	73	27
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	74	26
22	74	26
23	74	26
24	75	25
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	75	25
29	74	26
30	74	26
31	74	26

	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	0
17	0
18	0
19	0
20	0
21	0
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	71	29
3	71	29
4	70	30
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	71	29
9	71	29
10	71	29
11	71	29
12	71	29
13	71	29
14	72	28
15	72	28
16	72	28
17	73	27
18	73	27
19	73	27
20	73	27
21	74	26
22	74	26
23	74	26
24	75	25
25	75	25
26	75	25
27	75	25
28	75	25
29	74	26
30	74	26
31	74	26

	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	0
17	0
18	0
19	0
20	0
21	0
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

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