Average Weather in Tamale Ghana

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2. Ghana
3. Northern
4. Tamale

In Tamale, the wet season is oppressive and overcast, the dry season is humid and partly cloudy, and it is hot year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 63°F to 98°F and is rarely below 57°F or above 103°F.

The hot season lasts for 2.5 months, from January 27 to April 13, with an average daily high temperature above 95°F. The hottest day of the year is February 23, with an average high of 98°F and low of 72°F.

The cool season lasts for 3.4 months, from June 30 to October 12, with an average daily high temperature below 88°F. The coldest day of the year is January 1, with an average low of 63°F and high of 93°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.

In Tamale, 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 in Tamale begins around October 26 and lasts for 4.0 months, ending around February 26. On January 6, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 66% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 34% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around February 26 and lasts for 8.0 months, ending around October 26. On May 14, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 77% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 23% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Tamale varies very significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 6.4 months, from April 11 to October 24, with a greater than 43% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 85% on September 14.

The drier season lasts 5.6 months, from October 24 to April 11. The smallest chance of a wet day is 0% on December 31.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 85% on September 14.

Rainfall

To 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. Tamale experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 8.9 months, from February 21 to November 17, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around September 7, with an average total accumulation of 6.7 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 3.1 months, from November 17 to February 21. The least rain falls around January 2, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day in Tamale does not vary substantially over the course of the year, staying within 40 minutes of 12 hours throughout. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 11 hours, 35 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 12 hours, 40 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:42 AM on May 29, and the latest sunrise is 43 minutes later at 6:25 AM on January 28. The earliest sunset is at 5:38 PM on November 15, and the latest sunset is 49 minutes later at 6:27 PM on July 12.

Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed in Tamale during 2017.

We 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.

Tamale experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 9.5 months, from February 20 to December 6, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 30% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is September 5, with muggy conditions 100% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is January 3, with muggy conditions 6% of the time.

This 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 in Tamale experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 8.0 months, from December 11 to August 10, with average wind speeds of more than 3.3 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is January 14, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.1 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.0 months, from August 10 to December 11. The calmest day of the year is September 23, with an average hourly wind speed of 2.5 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction in Tamale varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the east for 1.2 months, from January 17 to February 23 and for 1.7 months, from November 9 to December 30, with a peak percentage of 49% on December 10. The wind is most often from the south for 8.5 months, from February 23 to November 9, with a peak percentage of 85% on May 30. The wind is most often from the north for 2.6 weeks, from December 30 to January 17, with a peak percentage of 47% on January 1.

This 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 1.6 months, from January 23 to March 11, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 5.6 kWh. The brightest day of the year is February 10, with an average of 5.8 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.2 months, from June 24 to September 29, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 5.0 kWh. The darkest day of the year is August 28, with an average of 4.7 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Tamale are 9.401 deg latitude, -0.839 deg longitude, and 554 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Tamale contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 197 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 570 feet. Within 10 miles also contains only modest variations in elevation (367 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (764 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Tamale is covered by cropland (38%), artificial surfaces (21%), trees (17%), and grassland (15%), within 10 miles by cropland (50%) and shrubs (37%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (43%) and cropland (26%).

This report illustrates the typical weather in Tamale, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Tamale is further than 200 kilometers from the nearest reliable weather station, so the weather-related data on this page were taken entirely from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis . 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.

The temperature and dew point estimates are corrected for the difference between the reference elevation of the MERRA-2 grid cell and the elevation of Tamale, according to the International Standard Atmosphere .

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , by Jean Meeus.

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 aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.