Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, sits inland on the hilly southern plateau of the country at around 750 metres above sea level, in the transition between forest and highland at approximately 3.85°N, 11.50°E. Its altitude tempers the equatorial heat, giving it a tropical wet-and-dry climate (Köppen Aw) with two rainy and two drier seasons, warm but rarely oppressive temperatures, and abundant rainfall.

There is little seasonal change in temperature: it is warm year-round, with daytime highs around 27–29°C moderated by the plateau altitude, and comfortable nights. The main rainy season runs from September to November, the wettest time, when heavy afternoon and evening thunderstorms are frequent; a shorter wet spell also comes around March to May, giving the characteristic double rainy season of the region.

The main dry season, from December to February, is warm, relatively less humid and the sunniest time, though even then the sun does not shine for long each day, and light rains are never far off. A shorter, drier interlude also occurs around July and August — the little dry season — separating the two rainy periods, when Yaoundé stays drier even as coastal Douala is drenched.

Yaoundé is wet, receiving on the order of 1,500–1,700 mm of rain a year — less than coastal Douala — in a double-peaked pattern, with the heaviest rains from September to November and a secondary wet season from March to May, separated by drier spells in July–August and December–February. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Yaoundé's plateau altitude gives it a milder, less oppressive version of Cameroon's tropical climate than steamy coastal Douala, with two distinct rainy seasons and two drier ones tied to the sun's passage overhead. Its distinctive 'little dry season' in July and August — when the interior stays relatively dry while the coast receives its heaviest monsoon rains — is a notable local feature of the southern Cameroon plateau.

To follow any single measurement in Yaounde more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.