Climatology
This page presents Senegal's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit. Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list.
Observed, historical data is produced by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia. Data is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.
Two distinct seasons characterize Senegal’s climate: a dry season from roughly October to May and a rainy season from June to September. While the arid zones receive a rainfall total under 300 millimeters per year, the forested south receives an average of 1200 mm/year. Rainfall is highly variable both on the interannual and inter-decadal timescales. The average annual temperature for Senegal was 27.8°C for the period 1960-1990, with monthly averages in the hottest seasons of up to 35°C.