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Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, sits on the Atlantic coast of West Africa near the mouth of the Saint Paul River, on a low, humid coastal strip at approximately 6.30°N, 10.80°W. It has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) — hot, humid and among the wettest capital cities in the world — with a torrential monsoon season and a relatively drier season.
The monsoon season, from May to October, brings extraordinary rainfall as moist southwesterly winds sweep in off the Atlantic; June, July and September are drenching, and monthly totals can be immense. Temperatures ease slightly under the near-constant cloud, with highs around 27–29°C, but humidity is relentless and the sun is rarely seen for long.
The drier season, from November to April, is hotter and sunnier, with highs around 30–31°C, less rain and somewhat lower humidity. Its distinctive feature is the Harmattan, a dry, dusty wind off the Sahara that can reach the coast between December and February, hazing the sky. This brighter, drier stretch is comfortably the best time of year.
Monrovia is one of the wettest capital cities on earth, receiving on the order of 4,500–5,000 mm of rain a year, overwhelmingly in the monsoon months from May to October, when the coast is battered by near-continuous downpours; the drier months from December to February see far less. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Monrovia's colossal rainfall — among the highest of any capital city anywhere — stems from moist Atlantic monsoon winds striking the West African coast head-on. The wet season is so intense that flooding is routine on the low coastal plain, while the brief Harmattan of midwinter brings the only genuinely dry, dusty air of the year.
To follow any single measurement in Monrovia 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.