Dakar weather by month & the best time to visit
🇸🇳 Senegal · major coastal city · semi-arid climate
The best time to visit Dakar is February — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 97/100), with December and January close behind. Dakar averages about 3,053 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 31°C / 88°F and roughly 3 mm of rain in February.
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- Sun hours / year
- 3,053
- Sunniest month
- February
- Peak score
- 97/100
- Rain / year
- 558 mm
- Midday UV at peak
- 12 (extreme)
- Sea at warmest
- 30°C / 86°F
- Population
- 2.6M
- Elevation
- 87 m
When is the best time to visit Dakar?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Dakar is February, then December and January. The dullest month is August (70/100, 202 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Dakar?
Dakar is one of the sunniest places on Earth: about 3,053 hours of sunshine a year. February (97/100) is noticeably better than August (70). Dakar is the sunniest of the 3 destinations tracked in Senegal. Rain is strongly seasonal here: roughly 83% of the year's 558 mm falls in the three months around August.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV | Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 96 | 30° / 86°F | 15° / 59°F | 5 mm | 8 | 23° / 73°F |
| February | 97 | 31° / 88°F | 16° / 61°F | 3 mm | 9 | 22° / 72°F |
| March | 87 | 33° / 91°F | 16° / 61°F | 5 mm | 11 | 20° / 68°F |
| April | 87 | 33° / 91°F | 17° / 63°F | 4 mm | 12 | 21° / 70°F |
| May | 87 | 33° / 91°F | 19° / 66°F | 1 mm | 11 | 24° / 75°F |
| June | 84 | 33° / 91°F | 22° / 72°F | 21 mm | 10 | 27° / 81°F |
| July | 81 | 31° / 88°F | 24° / 75°F | 90 mm | 10 | 29° / 84°F |
| August | 70 | 30° / 86°F | 24° / 75°F | 202 mm | 10 | 30° / 86°F |
| September | 70 | 30° / 86°F | 24° / 75°F | 171 mm | 10 | 29° / 84°F |
| October | 88 | 32° / 90°F | 23° / 73°F | 49 mm | 10 | 30° / 86°F |
| November | 96 | 32° / 90°F | 20° / 68°F | 4 mm | 9 | 28° / 82°F |
| December | 97 | 31° / 88°F | 17° / 63°F | 3 mm | 8 | 25° / 77°F |
Sea temperature in Dakar by month
The sea off Dakar is warmest in August at around 30°C / 86°F, and coolest in March at 20°C / 68°F. The water sits at a comfortable 21°C or warmer roughly 11 months a year. Month-by-month sea-surface temperatures are in the Sea column of the table above.
See Dakar on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Serekunda Gambia · 155 km · best in Jan · 3,054 h sun/yr
- Nouakchott Mauritania · 421 km · best in Jan · 3,619 h sun/yr
- Rabil Cape Verde · 644 km · best in Apr · 2,997 h sun/yr
- Espargos Cape Verde · 670 km · best in Apr · 2,997 h sun/yr
- Conakry Guinea · 680 km · best in Jan · 2,463 h sun/yr
- Praia Cape Verde · 690 km · best in May · 3,097 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Ziguinchor Senegal · 250 km · 2,861 h sun/yr · best in Jan
- Cap Skirring Senegal · 255 km · 2,862 h sun/yr · best in Apr
- Bissau Guinea-Bissau · 345 km · 2,736 h sun/yr · best in Jan
- Kayes Mali · 611 km · 3,252 h sun/yr · best in Dec
Head-to-head
How Dakar compares month by month: Dakar vs Conakry · Dakar vs Nouakchott · Dakar vs Serekunda · Dakar vs Rabil · all comparisons
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