Climate and average weather in Zinder

In Zinder, 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 Zinder typically varies from 14°C to 40°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 42°C. May is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
May
40°
Coldest
Jan
14°
Wettest
Aug
133 mm
Driest
Jan
0 mm
Rain / yr
268 mm
43 wet days
Daylight
11.2–12.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
460 m
13.8°N
Clearest
Feb
25% cloud

Zinder is city in Niger.

Founded
1736

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

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

The hot season lasts 3.1 months, from March 21 to June 22, with daily high temperatures above 37°C. The hottest month of the year in Zinder is May, with an average high of 40°C and low of 26°C.

The cool season lasts 1.5 months, from December 12 to January 27, with daily high temperatures below 31°C. The coldest month of the year in Zinder is January, with an average low of 14°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 14°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 16°C) in February.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2914
Feb3316
Mar3721
Apr4024
May4026
Jun3826
Jul3425
Aug3224
Sep3524
Oct3722
Nov3418
Dec3014

How hot and cold Zinder 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, Zinder feels like about 40°C (around April 24). About 293 days a year carry some heat stress, and 76 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in April.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan29291314
Feb32331616
Mar37372121
Apr40402424
May40402626
Jun39382626
Jul37342525
Aug36322424
Sep37352424
Oct37372222
Nov34341818
Dec30301414

Average hourly temperature in Zinder

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 May afternoons, near 40°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 14°C.

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

Zinder 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
Jan29° / 14°0011.37.2
Feb33° / 16°0011.55.0
Mar37° / 21°0011.92.2
Apr40° / 24°10.312.30.3
May40° / 26°61.712.60.2
Jun38° / 26°164.512.81.3
Jul34° / 25°681312.72.7
Aug32° / 24°1331612.53.4
Sep35° / 24°396.512.12.9
Oct37° / 22°4111.72.1
Nov34° / 18°0011.43.9
Dec30° / 14°0011.26.6

Chance of rain

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

Zinder gets about 268 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 3.4 months, from around Jun 13 to Sep 25, peaking in August at about 52% 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 133 mm over about 16 wet days; January is the driest, with 0 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 7 · 52%Jan 1 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr10
May52
Jun155
Jul4213
Aug5016
Sep237
Oct31
Nov00
Dec00

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Zinder collects about 268 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 133 mm, while January is the driest at just 0 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 90% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0161668133394
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr10
May62
Jun165
Jul6813
Aug13316
Sep397
Oct41
Nov00
Dec00

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Zinder, 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 22 and lasts for 6.8 months, ending around April 16. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 85% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 4 and lasts for 2.6 months, ending around September 21. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 58% 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 11 · 86%Aug 13 · 39%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan8218
Feb8515
Mar7525
Apr7228
May7426
Jun8020
Jul5941
Aug4258
Sep6535
Oct7624
Nov7624
Dec8119

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 1, 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)
Jan11.36:556:11
Feb11.56:526:25
Mar11.96:376:31
Apr12.36:156:34
May12.66:016:39
Jun12.86:006:49
Jul12.76:076:52
Aug12.56:146:42
Sep12.16:166:21
Oct11.76:196:00
Nov11.46:295:50
Dec11.26:455:56

Sunny days

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

Zinder averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 23 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.7 months, from around Sep 25 to Apr 16. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 22 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 6 sunny days — about 72% fewer than the February peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 823 daysAug 115 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan22Bright
Feb20Bright
Mar18Bright
Apr17Bright
May18Bright
Jun19Bright
Jul11Mixed
Aug6Gloomy
Sep14Mixed
Oct19Bright
Nov19Bright
Dec22Bright

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.7 months, from around May 20 to October 10. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 11 to May 19, and March 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 4 · 100%Jul 17 · 0%comfortableoppressivemuggydryhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar991000
Apr886410
May491622111
Jun81034434
Jul0175240
Aug0001981
Sep65103644
Oct63912132
Nov990000
Dec1000000

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 Zinder is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.4 months, from around Oct 28 to Apr 10. The windiest month is January, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 16 to Oct 27, with September the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 4 · 16 km/hSep 19 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan15light breeze
Feb15light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May11calm
Jun12light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug11calm
Sep10calm
Oct11calm
Nov14light breeze
Dec15light breeze

Hazard calendar for Zinder

In seasonPeak

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

Zinder sees dust haze year-round, heaviest in April.

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

Best time to visit Zinder

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late January, Zinder 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 Zinder 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 3 · 7.8

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
Jan7.1good
Feb5.0fair
Mar2.2poor
Apr0.3poor
May0.2poor
Jun1.3poor
Jul2.7poor
Aug3.4poor
Sep2.9poor
Oct2.2poor
Nov3.9fair
Dec6.6good

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 Zinder for hot-weather activities is from mid November to late February, with a peak score in the last week of December.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 25 · 9.2

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 Zinder, 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 May (highs near 40°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 29°C), pack light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In May, Zinder sees daytime highs around 40°C and nights near 26°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Zinder 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 Zinder peaks around August 12 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 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 highExtremeExtremeVery highAug 12UV 12Dec 18UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb12Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May10Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct11Extreme
Nov9Very high
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Zinder

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 August 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)
Jan74.5
Feb7.55.5
Mar7.55.5
Apr86
May7.55
Jun85.5
Jul8.56.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct7.55
Nov74.5
Dec6.53.5

Air quality in Zinder 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 Zinder is worst in February — around 103 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 3.9× the cleanest month (August, 26 µg/m³).

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

0306090120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorUnhealthyFeb 13102 µg/m³Aug 1627 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan98Unhealthy
Feb103Unhealthy
Mar96Unhealthy
Apr81Unhealthy
May63Unhealthy
Jun54Poor
Jul35Moderate
Aug26Moderate
Sep35Poor
Oct57Unhealthy
Nov65Unhealthy
Dec91Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Zinder 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. Zinder banks about 6,557 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)
Jan351
Feb404
Mar578
Apr659
May712
Jun659
Jul601
Aug552
Sep575
Oct606
Nov482
Dec377

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.

Zinder receives about 6.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.8 and 7.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.8 months, from around Feb 14 to Jul 9. The brightest month is April, averaging about 7.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 5.8 kWh/m² — roughly 22% less than the April peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 107.5 kWhDec 215.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.0Bright
Feb6.5Intense
Mar7.2Intense
Apr7.5Intense
May7.2Intense
Jun6.8Intense
Jul6.4Intense
Aug5.9Bright
Sep6.5Intense
Oct6.5Intense
Nov6.2Intense
Dec5.8Bright

Where is Zinder?

Zinder sits at 13.8°N, 9.0°E, 460 m above sea level, in Niger. The nearest listed city is Mirriah, 21 km away.

TessaouaDauraGazaouaTanoutAguié

Topography around Zinder

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Zinder has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 50 m around an average of 456 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 118 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 280 m.

The land around Zinder is covered by artificial surfaces (68%) within 3 km, cropland (48%) and grassland (46%) within 16 km, and cropland (53%) and grassland (46%) within 80 km.

3 km
50 m
16 km
118 m
80 km
280 m
shrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Mirriah 21 km · Matamey 70 km · Magaria 90 km · Tessaoua 108 km · Daura 112 km · Gazaoua 120 km · Tanout 130 km · Aguié 135 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 Zinder (13.8072°, 8.9881°, elevation 460 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).