Climate and Average Weather Year Round at Parakou Airport BeninAt Parakou Airport, the wet season is oppressive and overcast, the dry season is partly cloudy, and it is hot year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 68°F to 97°F and is rarely below 63°F or above 101°F. Based on the beach/pool score, the best time of year to visit Parakou Airport for hot-weather activities is from mid November to early February. Average Temperature at Parakou AirportThe hot season lasts for 2.7 months, from January 30 to April 19, with an average daily high temperature above 94°F. The hottest month of the year at Parakou Airport is March, with an average high of 97°F and low of 76°F. The cool season lasts for 2.6 months, from July 3 to September 21, with an average daily high temperature below 86°F. The coldest month of the year at Parakou Airport is August, with an average low of 72°F and high of 83°F.
The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. San Carlos, Venezuela (4,847 miles away) and Sulya, India (4,932 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Parakou Airport (view comparison). CloudsAt Parakou Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year. The clearer part of the year at Parakou Airport begins around November 1 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around February 21. The clearest month of the year at Parakou Airport is December, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 58% of the time. The cloudier part of the year begins around February 21 and lasts for 8.3 months, ending around November 1. The cloudiest month of the year at Parakou Airport is May, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 77% of the time.
PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Parakou Airport varies very significantly throughout the year. The wetter season lasts 6.1 months, from April 14 to October 18, with a greater than 42% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days at Parakou Airport is September, with an average of 23.4 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. The drier season lasts 5.9 months, from October 18 to April 14. The month with the fewest wet days at Parakou Airport is December, with an average of 0.3 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. The month with the most days of rain alone at Parakou Airport is September, with an average of 23.4 days. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 83% on September 3.
RainfallTo show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Parakou Airport experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall. The rainy period of the year lasts for 8.4 months, from February 27 to November 9, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The month with the most rain at Parakou Airport is August, with an average rainfall of 6.8 inches. The rainless period of the year lasts for 3.6 months, from November 9 to February 27. The month with the least rain at Parakou Airport is December, with an average rainfall of 0.0 inches.
SunThe length of the day at Parakou Airport does not vary substantially over the course of the year, staying within 40 minutes of 12 hours throughout. In 2024, the shortest day is December 21, with 11 hours, 35 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 20, with 12 hours, 40 minutes of daylight.
The earliest sunrise is at 6:28 AM on May 27, and the latest sunrise is 43 minutes later at 7:11 AM on January 29. The earliest sunset is at 6:25 PM on November 15, and the latest sunset is 49 minutes later at 7:14 PM on July 13. Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed at Parakou Airport during 2024. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. Parakou Airport experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity. The muggier period of the year lasts for 9.2 months, from February 21 to November 26, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 28% of the time. The month with the most muggy days at Parakou Airport is July, with 31.0 days that are muggy or worse. The month with the fewest muggy days at Parakou Airport is January, with 2.2 days that are muggy or worse.
WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed at Parakou Airport experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year. The windier part of the year lasts for 8.0 months, from December 13 to August 14, with average wind speeds of more than 6.2 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year at Parakou Airport is April, with an average hourly wind speed of 7.5 miles per hour. The calmer time of year lasts for 4.0 months, from August 14 to December 13. The calmest month of the year at Parakou Airport is October, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.8 miles per hour.
The predominant average hourly wind direction at Parakou Airport varies throughout the year. The wind is most often from the south for 8.5 months, from February 20 to November 4, with a peak percentage of 82% on May 16. The wind is most often from the east for 3.6 months, from November 4 to February 20, with a peak percentage of 60% on January 1. Best Time of Year to VisitTo characterize how pleasant the weather is at Parakou Airport throughout the year, we compute two travel scores. The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Parakou Airport for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid December to late January, with a peak score in the last week of December. Tourism Score at Parakou AirportThe beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Parakou Airport for hot-weather activities is from mid November to early February, with a peak score in the third week of December. Beach/Pool Score at Parakou AirportMethodologyFor each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed. Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies. Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more. Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter. Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures at Parakou Airport are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year. The brighter period of the year lasts for 1.5 months, from January 20 to March 6, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 5.5 kWh. The brightest month of the year at Parakou Airport is February, with an average of 5.7 kWh. The darker period of the year lasts for 4.0 months, from May 29 to September 28, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 4.8 kWh. The darkest month of the year at Parakou Airport is August, with an average of 4.6 kWh.
TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Parakou Airport are 9.350 deg latitude, 2.617 deg longitude, and 1,237 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Parakou Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 223 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 1,232 feet. Within 10 miles also contains only modest variations in elevation (371 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,371 feet). The area within 2 miles of Parakou Airport is covered by cropland (34%), trees (22%), grassland (18%), and shrubs (18%), within 10 miles by cropland (45%) and shrubs (44%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (46%) and cropland (31%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather at Parakou Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointParakou Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required. In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations. In this case, the only station close and reliable enough to use as a fallback is Niamtougou. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |