Accra, the capital of Ghana, sits on the Gulf of Guinea coast in West Africa, only a few degrees north of the equator at approximately 5.60°N, 0.19°W. It has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) that is warm and humid year-round with remarkably little change in temperature; instead of hot and cold seasons, the year is shaped by wet and dry periods. Unusually, Accra lies in one of the driest stretches of the Ghanaian coast.

There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures stay warm and steady all year, with daytime highs generally around 27–31°C and the warmest month, March, near 31°C. Humidity is high, often 80–85%, so the heat feels sticky, though the sea breeze off the Gulf of Guinea takes the edge off the stuffiness. The paradoxically coolest months are the cloudy mid-year period from June to August, when highs dip toward 27°C.

Nor is there a true winter, but the dry season from December to February is the sunniest, most comfortable time, with warm days, lower humidity and plenty of sunshine — December alone averages over eight hours of sun a day. Nights stay mild and the temperature has essentially never fallen below about 20°C in the city. This is comfortably the best time to visit.

Accra is surprisingly dry for a tropical coastal city, receiving only around 700–740 mm of rain a year — far less than the wetter western Ghanaian coast — because the coastline runs parallel to the rain-bearing winds and a cool offshore current suppresses rainfall. It has two rainy peaks, a major one in May and June (June is the wettest, with heavy downpours) and a minor one around September to November, split by a relatively dry spell in July and August. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

In the dry season, especially around January, the Harmattan — a dry, dust-laden wind blowing off the Sahara to the northeast — can reach the coast, hazing the sky, lowering humidity and coating the city in fine desert dust, though its effect is weaker here than in northern Ghana. The reliable Gulf of Guinea sea breeze is the other constant, tempering the humid heat throughout the year.

To follow any single measurement in Accra 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.