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Kumasi, Ghana's second city and the historic capital of the Ashanti Region, sits inland in the forested heart of southern Ghana, on a plateau at around 250–300 metres above sea level at approximately 6.69°N, 1.62°W. It has a tropical wet-and-dry climate (Köppen Aw) — warm and humid year-round — with the double rainy season characteristic of the West African forest belt.
There is no summer in the temperate sense: temperatures stay warm and steady, with daytime highs around 30–32°C and warm, humid nights. The main rainy season runs from around March to July, when heavy afternoon thunderstorms drench the forest and June is typically the wettest month; a shorter second rainy season follows around September and October, separated by a drier interval in August.
There is no true winter, but the main dry season from December to February is warmer, sunnier and less humid, with little rain. Its most distinctive feature is the Harmattan, a dry, dusty wind blowing off the Sahara that hazes the sky and can lower humidity sharply, though the surrounding forest means Kumasi feels its effects less strongly than the drier savannah to the north.
Kumasi is wet, receiving on the order of 1,400–1,500 mm of rain a year, delivered in two pulses typical of the Guinea forest belt — a main rainy season from March to July with a peak in June, and a secondary wet spell around September and October, separated by a drier August. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Kumasi's double rainy season — a strong one in early summer and a weaker one in autumn, split by a short dry break — is characteristic of the West African forest belt and keeps the surrounding Ashanti rainforest lush. Its inland, forested plateau setting makes it slightly cooler and wetter than the Ghanaian coast, while the midwinter Harmattan brings its only genuinely dry, dusty spell.
To follow any single measurement in Kumasi 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.