The Climate of
Togo
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School in the village of Assou Kondji, near Tabligbo
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Climate Map
Climate map of Togo
What is the climate of Togo like?
Togo is a small country is situated in West Africa between Ghana to the west and Benin to the east. It has a very short coastline on the Gulf of Guinea and extends between 6° and 11°N. It shares the same climatic belts and sequence of weather around the year as Nigeria and adjacent countries.
Togo has a humid, tropical climate. The northernmost part of the country, which is farther from the coast, has the greatest variations in temperature. Temperatures in the northern town of Mango range between 18°C (64°F) and 39°C (102°F), compared with 22°C (72°F) and 32°C (90°F) in Lomé, which is on the southern coast.
Togo’s climate, while moist, is drier than those of its neighbors on the Gulf of Guinea. The coastal region has two rainy seasons, one peaking in May or June, the other in October, but in the north there is a single rainy season starting in May or June. However, rainfall is lower on the coast than it is a short distance inland, as in Ghana.
The coast receives an annual average rainfall of about 800 millimeters (32 inches). It has two rainy seasons: one between April and July, and a second, shorter one in September and October. The period from November to February is least likely to experience rainy days.
The plateau region to the north experiences only one rainy season from May to September but still averages 1,000 millimeters (40 inches) of rainfall annually. The heaviest rainfall occurs in the Togo Mountains, which receive an average of around 1,500 millimeters (60 inches) of rain per year.
In the north there is a single long dry season between October and April. At this time temperatures are warm to hot with a very low relative humidity and the dust-laden harmattan, wind blows from the northeast. From December to February the harmattan affects the whole country, except a strip along the coast. The coast has southwesterly winds, the dry harmattan reaching right to the coast on only a few days.
| Climate data for Mango | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 36.0 (96.8) | 37.8 (100.0) | 39.1 (102.4) | 38.0 (100.4) | 35.5 (95.9) | 32.2 (90.0) | 30.5 (86.9) | 29.5 (85.1) | 30.6 (87.1) | 32.9 (91.2) | 35.7 (96.3) | 35.6 (96.1) | 34.5 (94.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.8 (80.2) | 29.4 (84.9) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.4 (88.5) | 29.6 (85.3) | 27.5 (81.5) | 26.4 (79.5) | 26.0 (78.8) | 26.4 (79.5) | 27.9 (82.2) | 27.9 (82.2) | 26.7 (80.1) | 28.1 (82.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 18.0 (64.4) | 21.0 (69.8) | 24.4 (75.9) | 25.3 (77.5) | 24.1 (75.4) | 22.5 (72.5) | 21.9 (71.4) | 21.9 (71.4) | 21.6 (70.9) | 21.7 (71.1) | 19.4 (66.9) | 18.1 (64.6) | 21.5 (70.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 0.23 (0.01) | 4.13 (0.16) | 28.58 (1.13) | 66.07 (2.60) | 106.12 (4.18) | 136.62 (5.38) | 195.87 (7.71) | 236.70 (9.32) | 235.51 (9.27) | 69.10 (2.72) | 5.53 (0.22) | 3.40 (0.13) | 1,087.9 (42.83) |
| Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Lomé (1961-1990) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.7 (89.1) | 32.3 (90.1) | 32.5 (90.5) | 32.1 (89.8) | 31.3 (88.3) | 29.6 (85.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.0 (82.4) | 29.1 (84.4) | 30.4 (86.7) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.6 (88.9) | 30.7 (87.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.1 (80.8) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.5 (83.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.2 (79.2) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.8 (78.4) | 26.6 (79.9) | 27.3 (81.1) | 27.1 (80.8) | 26.9 (80.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 22.5 (72.5) | 24.0 (75.2) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.4 (75.9) | 23.5 (74.3) | 22.8 (73.0) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.3 (72.1) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.8 (73.0) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.5 (72.5) | 23.1 (73.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 8.9 (0.35) | 23.1 (0.91) | 53.4 (2.10) | 96.1 (3.78) | 152.7 (6.01) | 251.8 (9.91) | 91.0 (3.58) | 32.7 (1.29) | 64.7 (2.55) | 74.6 (2.94) | 20.4 (0.80) | 7.8 (0.31) | 877.2 (34.53) |
| Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst | |||||||||||||
References
- E. A. Pearce, Charles Gordon Smith, (1990) The Hutchinson World Weather Guide, John Murray Press. ISBN 1859863426
- Timothy L. Gall, (ed.), (2003), Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Eleventh Edition, Thomson Gale
- Hugh Chisholm, (ed.), (1911), Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh edition, Cambridge University Press
The Climate of
Togo
In summary:
Togo has a humid, tropical climate. Temperatures average around 27°C (81°F) across most of the country, but with much greater variation in the north than the south.
In the south there are two rainy seasons, from April to July and in September and October. The coast gets the least rainfall, about 800 mm (32 in) annually. The heaviest rainfall occurs in the hills of the west, southwest, and center, where the rainfall averages about 1500 mm (60 in) a year. North of the Togo Mountains there is one rainy season, lasting from May to September. Rainfall in this region averages 1000 mm (40 in) a year.