Climate and average weather in Sikasso

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

Best: late November to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Sikasso typically varies from 19°C to 37°C, and is rarely below 16°C or above 39°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 Sikasso for warm-weather activities are from early January to late January and late November to late December.

Hottest
Mar
37°
Coldest
Aug
22°
Wettest
Aug
265 mm
Driest
Dec
0 mm
Rain / yr
936 mm
130 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
368 m
11.3°N
Clearest
Jan
29% cloud

Sikasso is city in Mali.

Density
873/km²
people per km²
Founded
1801

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

Sikasso 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 November to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Sikasso, 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 February 16 to May 12, with daily high temperatures above 35°C. The hottest month of the year in Sikasso is March, with an average high of 37°C and low of 25°C.

The cool season lasts 2.7 months, from July 5 to September 23, with daily high temperatures below 30°C. The coldest month of the year in Sikasso is August, with an average low of 22°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in December.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3219
Feb3522
Mar3725
Apr3726
May3525
Jun3224
Jul3022
Aug2922
Sep3022
Oct3222
Nov3321
Dec3219

How hot and cold Sikasso 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, Sikasso feels like about 39°C (around May 1). About 313 days a year carry some heat stress, and 7 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in May.

15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan32321919
Feb35352222
Mar37372425
Apr38372626
May39352525
Jun36322324
Jul33302222
Aug32292222
Sep33302222
Oct35322222
Nov34332121
Dec32321919

Average hourly temperature in Sikasso

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 37°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 22°C.

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

Sikasso 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° / 19°20.511.45.1
Feb35° / 22°20.511.63.3
Mar37° / 25°92.111.92.0
Apr37° / 26°317.712.21.8
May35° / 25°6913.812.52.4
Jun32° / 24°9416.512.73.4
Jul30° / 22°18523.312.63.6
Aug29° / 22°26525.912.43.5
Sep30° / 22°18822.612.13.6
Oct32° / 22°8615.411.73.7
Nov33° / 21°71.511.54.1
Dec32° / 19°0011.35.0

Chance of rain

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

Sikasso gets about 936 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 5.9 months, from around Apr 30 to Oct 25, peaking in August at about 86% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Dec 11.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 265 mm over about 26 wet days; December is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 7 · 86%Dec 11 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan11
Feb21
Mar72
Apr258
May4514
Jun5517
Jul7423
Aug8426
Sep7523
Oct4915
Nov72
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Sikasso collects about 936 mm of rain across 130 wet days — roughly 78 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 265 mm, while December is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 68% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2293169941852651888670
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan21
Feb21
Mar92
Apr318
May6914
Jun9417
Jul18523
Aug26526
Sep18823
Oct8615
Nov72
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Sikasso, 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 16 and lasts for 5.8 months, ending around April 11. 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 April 12 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around October 15. 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 28 · 84%Aug 14 · 16%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8119
Feb7723
Mar6535
Apr5149
May4357
Jun5050
Jul2971
Aug1783
Sep3565
Oct5545
Nov6931
Dec7822

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 12, 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)
Jan11.46:506:14
Feb11.66:486:26
Mar11.96:356:30
Apr12.26:156:30
May12.56:036:34
Jun12.76:036:43
Jul12.66:106:46
Aug12.46:156:38
Sep12.16:156:19
Oct11.76:156:00
Nov11.56:245:52
Dec11.36:395:59

Sunny days

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

Sikasso averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 21 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.5 months, from around Oct 14 to Mar 28. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 1 sunny days — about 96% fewer than the January peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJan 2721 daysAug 111 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan21Bright
Feb17Bright
Mar14Mixed
Apr8Mixed
May7Gloomy
Jun8Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep5Gloomy
Oct11Mixed
Nov16Bright
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 Sikasso, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.2 months, from around April 4 to November 7. The muggiest month is May, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 8 to April 3, and December is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 97% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecDec 27 · 99%May 19 · 0%comfortablehumidmuggyoppressivedrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan9621100
Feb8855200
Mar5710181410
Apr1271748160
May10331651
Jun00012881
Jul0003970
Aug0001980
Sep0001981
Oct11315790
Nov42151518100
Dec9342100

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

The windier part of the year lasts 6.9 months, from around Nov 30 to Jun 27. The windiest month is January, averaging about 11 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 28 to Nov 29, with September the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 29 · 11 km/hSep 23 · 6 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb10calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May9calm
Jun9calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov8calm
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for Sikasso

In seasonPeak

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

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

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

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

Best time to visit Sikasso

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 4 · 5.5

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
Jan5.1fair
Feb3.4poor
Mar2.0poor
Apr1.8poor
May2.4poor
Jun3.4poor
Jul3.6fair
Aug3.5poor
Sep3.6fair
Oct3.7fair
Nov4.1fair
Dec5.0fair

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 1 · 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 Sikasso, 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 37°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around August (highs near 29°C), pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In March, Sikasso sees daytime highs around 37°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Sikasso 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 Sikasso peaks around March 18 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 9 (very high).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highMar 18UV 14Dec 15UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb10Very high
Mar14Extreme
Apr11Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in Sikasso

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
Feb75
Mar86.5
Apr7.55.5
May8.56.5
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov74.5
Dec6.54

Air quality in Sikasso 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 Sikasso is worst in February — around 55 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 5.1× the cleanest month (August, 11 µg/m³).

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

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModerateModerateFeb 1854 µg/m³Aug 1511 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan41Poor
Feb55Poor
Mar49Poor
Apr41Poor
May24Moderate
Jun20Moderate
Jul14Moderate
Aug11Good
Sep16Moderate
Oct23Moderate
Nov24Moderate
Dec34Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Sikasso 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. Sikasso banks about 6,379 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)
Jan479
Feb510
Mar638
Apr635
May614
Jun532
Jul495
Aug476
Sep477
Oct529
Nov512
Dec482

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.

Sikasso receives about 5.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.5 and 6.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.2 months, from around Jan 17 to Jun 23. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is August, down near 4.6 kWh/m² — roughly 30% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 146.6 kWhAug 164.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.8Bright
Feb6.3Intense
Mar6.6Intense
Apr6.5Intense
May6.4Intense
Jun6.0Intense
Jul5.1Bright
Aug4.6Bright
Sep5.3Bright
Oct5.8Bright
Nov5.9Bright
Dec5.7Bright

Where is Sikasso?

Sikasso sits at 11.3°N, 5.7°W, 368 m above sea level, in Mali. The nearest listed city is Finnkolo, 18 km away.

KarankassoKoutialaMassiogoTengréla

Topography around Sikasso

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sikasso has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 78 m around an average of 369 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 272 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 526 m.

The land around Sikasso is covered by artificial surfaces (61%) within 3 km, shrubs (37%) and cropland (35%) within 16 km, and shrubs (39%) and cropland (35%) within 80 km.

3 km
78 m
16 km
272 m
80 km
526 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Finnkolo 18 km · Kadiolo 86 km · Orodara 90 km · Zégoua 92 km · Karankasso 112 km · Koutiala 121 km · Massiogo 122 km · Tengréla 123 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 Sikasso (11.3176°, -5.6665°, elevation 368 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).