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Niamey, the capital of Niger, sits on the Niger River in the southwest of the country, on a flat plain at the southern edge of the Sahara at approximately 13.51°N, 2.11°E. It has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) in the Sahel — with some of the most intense sustained heat on earth and a single short rainy season.
The hottest period comes before the rains, from March to May, when highs regularly reach 41–43°C under a relentless sun, making Niamey one of the hottest cities in the world. The rainy season arrives with the West African monsoon from around June to September, bringing higher humidity and violent thunderstorms; August is the wettest month, and the heat eases only slightly.
The cooler dry season, from November to February, is the most comfortable time, with warm, sunny days around 33–35°C but pleasantly cool nights that can drop to around 15–17°C. Its defining feature is the Harmattan, a dry, dusty wind blowing off the Sahara that hazes the sky, lowers humidity and fills the air with fine sand.
Niamey is dry, receiving only around 500–600 mm of rain a year, almost all of it in the short rainy season from June to September, with a strong August peak, while from November to April it is effectively rainless. The rains are erratic, and drought is a chronic threat to the Sahel. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Niamey endures some of the most punishing sustained heat of any capital city, with pre-monsoon temperatures above 40°C for weeks on end. Its year is dominated by the alternation between the dust-laden Harmattan blowing off the Sahara and the brief, violent monsoon that briefly greens the Sahel — and whose failure brings drought and famine to the region.
To follow any single measurement in Niamey 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.