Climatology
This page presents Mauritania'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.
Mauritania has a dry, hot, and windy climate, and is severely exposed to the effects of desertification. The majority of Mauritania receives very little rainfall throughout the year. The country’s southern edge, which reaches the Sahel, has a wet season controlled by the movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which oscillates between the northern and southern tropics over the course of a year. The country’s mean monthly temperature stays above 25°C year-round with the hot season occurring from May to October, with peak mean monthly temperatures reaching 33°C in June and July.