🇧🇫Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso (9°20′–15°05′N) is a landlocked West African Sahel nation occupying a mostly flat plateau averaging 200–300 m elevation, with its highest point at Ténakourou (749 m) in the southwest. The country exhibits three distinct bioclimatic belts from north to south: the Sahelian zone (semi-arid BSh climate) north of ~14°N, the transitional Sudan-Sahel zone (BSh→Aw) across the centre, and the Sudan-Guinea tropical savanna zone (Aw climate) in the south.

Burkina Faso experiences a single rainy season from June to September driven by the West African monsoon and the northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The capital Ouagadougou (12°22′N, 400 m elevation) averages 28°C year-round, with April highs reaching 39–46°C and January lows around 17°C; annual rainfall totals ~744 mm.

Rainfall varies dramatically by latitude: the Sahelian north receives <600 mm (Dori ~500 mm), while the wetter south exceeds 1,000 mm (Bobo-Dioulasso 1,001 mm, Banfora area >1,200 mm). From November to March, the harmattan—a dry, dusty northeasterly wind from the Sahara—brings cooler temperatures and reduced visibility from airborne dust. The country has suffered severe droughts during the 1970s, 1980s, and 2010s (including the 2010 Sahel famine), with recurrent locust outbreaks during wetter cycles and occasional severe flash floods.

Our archive covers 1 Burkinabé cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Ouagadougou, around 31.2°C, while Ouagadougou records the coldest January nights near 17.8°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.7°C.