🇲🇱Mali

Mali spans about 10°–25°N as a vast landlocked West African nation covering approximately 1,240,192 km² and bordering Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, and Mauritania. The Niger River carves its famous great bend through the Sahel, sweeping from the southwest to the northeast before turning south into Niger, defining the country's geography and lifeline.

Mali exhibits an extraordinary climate gradient from the wet Sudanian savanna in the deep south to the Sahara in the north. Key features include the Adrar des Ifoghas highlands in the northeast, the dramatic Bandiagara Escarpment of Dogon Country, the Inner Niger Delta (a critical wetland for migratory birds), the historic cities of Timbuktu, Djenné, and Gao, and the country's highest peak Hombori Tondo at 1,155 m. This produces a pronounced climate spectrum: tropical savanna (Aw) in the deep south around Sikasso and Bamako, hot semi-arid (BSh) across the central Sahel, and hot desert (BWh) dominating the northern expanses.

Bamako sees highs of 33°C in January and 38°C in May, with nights of 17°C and 25°C, and about 880–950 mm rainfall concentrated almost entirely during the West African monsoon June–September. Sikasso in the wet south sees highs of 33°C in January and 36°C in May, with nights of 18°C and 25°C, and 1,200 mm. Mopti in the Sahel sees highs of 32°C in January and about 41°C in May, with nights of 15°C and 28°C, and 530 mm. Timbuktu on the desert fringe sees highs of 30°C in January and 42°C in May, with nights of 13°C and 26°C, and 160–185 mm.

Gao on the Niger bend sees highs of 31°C in January and about 43°C in May, with nights of 15°C and 28°C, and 220 mm. Kidal in the remote Adrar highlands is drier still, with only around 100–130 mm. Tessalit at the Saharan margin endures highs of 27°C in January and 41°C in May, with nights of 13°C and 26°C, and 70 mm. The pre-monsoon hot season April–May can exceed 45°C across central Mali, and Kayes reached 48.5°C in April 2024.

Major climate events include the severe Sahel droughts of the early 1970s, the 1980s and 2012 that had dramatic environmental and societal effects, occasional severe flooding, the severe April 2024 heatwave reaching 48.5°C at Kayes, the 1980s famine intensified by climate stress, Sahel desertification, and dust-laden harmattan winds in the dry season.

Our archive covers 10 Malian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.8°C.