🇨🇻Cape Verde

Cape Verde spans 14°48′–17°12′N as a volcanic archipelago of ten islands (~570 km off the West African coast) split into two groups: Barlavento (windward: Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Sal, Boa Vista, Santa Luzia) and Sotavento (leeward: Maio, Santiago, Fogo, Brava). The active Pico do Fogo stratovolcano rises to 2,829 m.

A mostly hot semi-arid (BSh) climate prevails, with arid (BWh) eastern flats on Sal and Boa Vista, modulated by the cool Canary Current and persistent NE trade winds. The wetter mountain windward slopes of Santo Antão and Santiago carry small Csb / Cwb pockets in the high cloud belt.

Praia on Santiago averages 22°C in January and 27°C in August with only 230 mm rainfall, almost entirely in a brief August–October West African monsoon-fringe pulse. Sal is even drier (~120 mm). The high windward slopes of Santo Antão (Cova de Paúl, ~1,500 m) capture trade-wind moisture and receive 600+ mm. Fogo erupted in 1995 and 2014, displacing villages. Recurrent multi-year droughts since 1970 have driven historic outmigration.

The Saharan harmattan (Bruma seca) delivers heavy dust haze December–April. Tropical waves and rare hurricanes occasionally graze the islands (Hurricane Fred 2015, only the easternmost Atlantic landfall on record). Coastal erosion and freshwater scarcity intensify with warming.

Our archive covers 0 Cape Verdean cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.