Climate and average weather in San

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

Best: early January to late January

Over the course of the year, the temperature in San typically varies from 18°C to 40°C, and is rarely below 15°C or above 42°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 San for warm-weather activities are from early January to late January and mid December to late December.

Hottest
Apr
40°
Coldest
Aug
24°
Wettest
Aug
196 mm
Driest
Dec
0 mm
Rain / yr
526 mm
79 wet days
Daylight
11.2–12.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
277 m
13.3°N
Clearest
Feb
29% cloud

San is town in Mali.

Density
666/km²
people per km²
Founded
1400

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

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

The hot season lasts 2.8 months, from March 10 to June 3, with daily high temperatures above 37°C. The hottest month of the year in San is April, with an average high of 40°C and low of 27°C.

The cool season lasts 2.2 months, from July 17 to September 20, with daily high temperatures below 33°C. The coldest month of the year in San is August, with an average low of 24°C and high of 31°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in December.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3218
Feb3521
Mar3824
Apr4027
May3928
Jun3627
Jul3325
Aug3124
Sep3224
Oct3524
Nov3521
Dec3318

How hot and cold San 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, San feels like about 41°C (around May 21). About 339 days a year carry some heat stress, and 95 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)
Jan32321818
Feb35352121
Mar38382424
Apr40402727
May41392828
Jun40362727
Jul37332525
Aug35312424
Sep37322424
Oct37352424
Nov35352121
Dec33331818

Average hourly temperature in San

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 40°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 24°C.

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

San 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
Jan32° / 18°10.211.35.3
Feb35° / 21°0011.63.4
Mar38° / 24°10.411.91.3
Apr40° / 27°92.612.30.3
May39° / 28°205.912.60.6
Jun36° / 27°4310.412.81.9
Jul33° / 25°12317.412.73.0
Aug31° / 24°19620.912.43.3
Sep32° / 24°10714.812.13.5
Oct35° / 24°265.811.72.7
Nov35° / 21°10.211.43.0
Dec33° / 18°0011.24.8

Chance of rain

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

San gets about 526 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 4.9 months, from around May 19 to Oct 13, peaking in August at about 69% 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 196 mm over about 21 wet days; December is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 16 · 69%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar10
Apr83
May196
Jun3410
Jul5617
Aug6721
Sep4915
Oct196
Nov10
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, San collects about 526 mm of rain across 79 wet days — roughly 44 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 196 mm, while December is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 81% of the year’s total.

050100150200250JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec10192043123196107261
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan10
Feb00
Mar10
Apr93
May206
Jun4310
Jul12317
Aug19621
Sep10715
Oct266
Nov10
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In San, 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 28 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around April 15. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 5 and lasts for 2.8 months, ending around September 27. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 70% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 4 · 81%Aug 17 · 29%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7624
Feb8020
Mar7426
Apr6238
May5347
Jun6535
Jul4852
Aug3070
Sep5050
Oct6436
Nov7129
Dec7426

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 June 7, brings about 12 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.36:506:08
Feb11.66:476:21
Mar11.96:326:26
Apr12.36:116:29
May12.65:576:34
Jun12.85:566:43
Jul12.76:046:47
Aug12.46:106:37
Sep12.16:126:16
Oct11.76:145:56
Nov11.46:245:46
Dec11.26:395:52

Sunny days

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

San averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.9 months, from around Oct 15 to Apr 13. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 3 sunny days — about 84% fewer than the February peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 2421 daysAug 113 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan19Bright
Feb19Bright
Mar18Bright
Apr13Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun13Mixed
Jul8Gloomy
Aug3Gloomy
Sep8Mixed
Oct14Mixed
Nov17Bright
Dec19Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around April 25 to October 29. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 30 to April 24, 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%Jun 16 · 0%miserablecomfortablehumiddryoppressivemuggycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan9910000
Feb9820000
Mar8964100
Apr5013201510
May1072149130
Jun00342550
Jul0007921
Aug0000955
Sep0002898
Oct1161128421
Nov7896510
Dec9910000

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

The windier part of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around Nov 25 to Apr 6. The windiest month is February, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 18 to Nov 24, with September the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeFeb 7 · 11 km/hSep 13 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb11calm
Mar10calm
Apr9calm
May9calm
Jun10calm
Jul9calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct7calm
Nov9calm
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for San

In seasonPeak

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

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

San sees seasonal dust haze (February–July), heaviest in April.

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

Best time to visit San

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late January, San 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 San 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 7 · 5.6

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
Jan5.2fair
Feb3.4poor
Mar1.3poor
Apr0.3poor
May0.6poor
Jun1.9poor
Jul3.0poor
Aug3.3poor
Sep3.4poor
Oct2.8poor
Nov3.0poor
Dec4.7fair

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 6 · 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 San, 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 40°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around August (highs near 31°C), pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, San sees daytime highs around 40°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in San 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 San peaks around March 17 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 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 17UV 13Jan 10UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb10Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May11Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in San

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)
Jan6.54
Feb7.55
Mar86
Apr85.5
May86
Jun85.5
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec6.53.5

Air quality in San 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 San is worst in March — around 68 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 4.7× the cleanest month (August, 14 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorMar 1068 µg/m³Aug 1815 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan55Poor
Feb67Unhealthy
Mar68Unhealthy
Apr56Unhealthy
May41Poor
Jun33Moderate
Jul21Moderate
Aug14Moderate
Sep19Moderate
Oct29Moderate
Nov32Moderate
Dec46Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

San 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. San banks about 6,962 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)
Jan461
Feb497
Mar653
Apr700
May727
Jun642
Jul578
Aug536
Sep539
Oct605
Nov545
Dec480

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.

San receives about 6.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.3 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around Feb 11 to Jul 8. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 5.4 kWh/m² — roughly 20% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 296.9 kWhAug 145.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.6Bright
Feb6.2Intense
Mar6.8Intense
Apr6.8Intense
May6.6Intense
Jun6.6Intense
Jul5.9Bright
Aug5.3Bright
Sep6.0Bright
Oct6.0Intense
Nov5.9Bright
Dec5.5Bright

Where is San?

San sits at 13.3°N, 4.9°W, 277 m above sea level, in Mali. The nearest listed city is Djenné, 77 km away.

BlaYorossoDiourouMoninnpébougouKoutialaKouri

Topography around San

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around San has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 21 m around an average of 278 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 39 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 205 m.

The land around San is covered by artificial surfaces (40%) and cropland (37%) within 3 km, grassland (40%) and cropland (38%) within 16 km, and grassland (43%), cropland (30%) and shrubs (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
21 m
16 km
39 m
80 km
205 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Djenné 77 km · Ké-Macina 89 km · Bla 101 km · Yorosso 105 km · Diourou 110 km · Moninnpébougou 116 km · Koutiala 118 km · Kouri 124 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
Muslim 94%Christian 3%none 3%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 San (13.297°, -4.8963°, elevation 277 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).