Climate and average weather in Niamey

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

Best: early January to late January

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Niamey typically varies from 17°C to 40°C, and is rarely below 14°C or above 43°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Apr
40°
Coldest
Jan
17°
Wettest
Aug
122 mm
Driest
Jan
0 mm
Rain / yr
269 mm
43 wet days
Daylight
11.2–12.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
206 m
13.5°N
Clearest
Feb
26% cloud

Niamey is capital of Niger.

Founded
1901

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

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

The hot season lasts 2.7 months, from March 17 to June 7, with daily high temperatures above 38°C. The hottest month of the year in Niamey is April, with an average high of 40°C and low of 27°C.

The cool season lasts 1.4 months, from December 17 to January 28, with daily high temperatures below 32°C. The coldest month of the year in Niamey is January, with an average low of 17°C and high of 31°C.

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

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3117
Feb3420
Mar3824
Apr4027
May4029
Jun3728
Jul3426
Aug3225
Sep3425
Oct3725
Nov3620
Dec3218

How hot and cold Niamey 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, Niamey feels like about 42°C (around May 19). About 329 days a year carry some heat stress, and 133 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)
Jan31311717
Feb34342020
Mar38382324
Apr40402727
May42402929
Jun41372828
Jul38342626
Aug37322525
Sep39342525
Oct39372525
Nov36362020
Dec32321818

Average hourly temperature in Niamey

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 January, near 17°C.

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

Niamey 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
Jan31° / 17°0011.35.9
Feb34° / 20°0011.63.8
Mar38° / 24°10.411.91.3
Apr40° / 27°20.612.30.0
May40° / 29°82.312.60.2
Jun37° / 28°215.212.81.6
Jul34° / 26°6110.812.72.9
Aug32° / 25°12215.212.43.4
Sep34° / 25°456.612.13.1
Oct37° / 25°91.911.71.7
Nov36° / 20°0011.42.7
Dec32° / 18°0011.25.0

Chance of rain

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

Niamey gets about 269 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.0 months, from around May 29 to Sep 27, peaking in August at about 49% 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 122 mm over about 15 wet days; January is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 12 · 49%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar10
Apr21
May82
Jun175
Jul3511
Aug4815
Sep237
Oct62
Nov00
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Niamey collects about 269 mm of rain across 43 wet days — roughly 22 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 122 mm, while January is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 85% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec01282161122459
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar10
Apr21
May82
Jun215
Jul6111
Aug12215
Sep457
Oct92
Nov00
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Niamey, 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 21 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around March 13. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 82% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 5 and lasts for 2.6 months, ending around September 20. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 57% 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 27 · 85%Aug 18 · 40%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8218
Feb8218
Mar7030
Apr6337
May6733
Jun7624
Jul5941
Aug4357
Sep6436
Oct7723
Nov7921
Dec8218

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 4, 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)
Jan11.37:226:39
Feb11.67:206:53
Mar11.97:046:58
Apr12.36:437:01
May12.66:297:06
Jun12.86:287:16
Jul12.76:357:19
Aug12.46:427:09
Sep12.16:446:48
Oct11.76:466:27
Nov11.46:566:18
Dec11.27:126:24

Sunny days

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

Niamey averages about 16 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.8 months, from around Sep 21 to Mar 15. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 21 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 7 sunny days — about 68% fewer than the December peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantDec 2722 daysAug 176 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan21Bright
Feb20Bright
Mar17Bright
Apr14Mixed
May15Bright
Jun18Bright
Jul12Mixed
Aug7Gloomy
Sep14Mixed
Oct19Bright
Nov19Bright
Dec21Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around April 26 to October 23. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 24 to April 25, and February is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 99% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 10 · 100%Jul 1 · 0%dryoppressivehumidcomfortablemuggycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan10000000
Feb9900000
Mar9522100
Apr5811201010
May89284680
Jun01655390
Jul00018810
Aug0001972
Sep00115812
Oct22101632210
Nov9053200
Dec10000000

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 Niamey is typically light breeze, near 12 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 2.9 months, from around May 6 to Aug 2. The windiest month is June, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 3 to Dec 4, with October the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeJun 19 · 14 km/hOct 20 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan13light breeze
Feb13light breeze
Mar12light breeze
Apr12calm
May13light breeze
Jun13light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug11calm
Sep11calm
Oct10calm
Nov11calm
Dec13light breeze

Hazard calendar for Niamey

In seasonPeak

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

Niamey sees seasonal dust haze (January–July), heaviest in March.

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

Best time to visit Niamey

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late January, Niamey 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 Niamey 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 6 · 6.3

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
Jan5.8good
Feb3.8fair
Mar1.3poor
Apr0.0poor
May0.2poor
Jun1.6poor
Jul2.9poor
Aug3.4poor
Sep3.0poor
Oct1.8poor
Nov2.7poor
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 Niamey for hot-weather activities is from late November to late February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 5 · 8.8

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 Niamey, 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 January (highs near 31°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

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

UV index (midday) in Niamey 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 Niamey peaks around August 19 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 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 highAug 19UV 13Dec 14UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan10Very high
Feb11Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr10Extreme
May10Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Niamey

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)
Jan75
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr7.55.5
May85.5
Jun85.5
Jul85.5
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.55
Nov6.54
Dec6.54

Air quality in Niamey 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 Niamey is worst in February — around 97 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 5.0× the cleanest month (August, 20 µg/m³).

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

0306090120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorUnhealthyFeb 2197 µg/m³Aug 1320 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan87Unhealthy
Feb97Unhealthy
Mar96Unhealthy
Apr74Unhealthy
May46Poor
Jun34Moderate
Jul22Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep26Moderate
Oct48Poor
Nov62Unhealthy
Dec77Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Niamey 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. Niamey banks about 7,134 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)
Jan436
Feb476
Mar643
Apr712
May754
Jun672
Jul616
Aug571
Sep592
Oct653
Nov545
Dec464

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.

Niamey receives about 6.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy — intense — and it stays remarkably steady, holding between 5.6 and 7.1 kWh/m² all year. For solar panels, output here is a flat line, not a seasonal wave.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 67.1 kWhDec 205.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.8Bright
Feb6.3Intense
Mar6.9Intense
Apr7.0Intense
May6.8Intense
Jun6.7Intense
Jul6.3Intense
Aug5.7Bright
Sep6.3Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov6.0Intense
Dec5.7Bright

Where is Niamey?

Niamey sits at 13.5°N, 2.1°E, 206 m above sea level, in Niger. The nearest listed city is Youri Kourtéré, 25 km away.

BaléyaraBirnin GaouréTillabériDosso

What Niamey looks like

Topography around Niamey

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Niamey has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 52 m around an average of 203 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 97 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 136 m.

The land around Niamey is covered by artificial surfaces (69%) within 3 km, grassland (42%) and bare terrain (26%) within 16 km, and grassland (64%) and bare terrain (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
52 m
16 km
97 m
80 km
136 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Youri Kourtéré 25 km · Kollo 34 km · Say 54 km · Torodi 55 km · Baléyara 96 km · Birnin Gaouré 99 km · Tillabéri 105 km · Dosso 128 km

Niger travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 4
Do Not Travel
Power plugs
Type A / B / C / D / E / F
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 36% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$775
2025
Happiness
4.9 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
4.4
per 100k, 2012
Road deaths
25.5
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Low
World Bank
Religion
Muslim 96%ethnic religionist 4%Christian 0%agnostics and other 0%

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 Niamey (13.5137°, 2.1098°, elevation 206 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).