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Freetown weather by month — averages, rainfall & climate trends

Average temperatures and rainfall by month, a climate graph, today's conditions versus the long-term average, and how the climate has shifted since 1940 — all on one page for Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Overcast

Right now

26.8°

31°feels like
80%humidity
23°dew point
11 km/hfrom SW
sunrise06:42sunset19:15day length12h 33m
TodayShowers27°25°
TueOvercast28°25°
WedThunderstorm27°25°
ThuOvercast28°25°
FriShowers28°25°
SatShowers27°25°
SunOvercast27°25°

On this date — July 20

Today (forecast)
27° / 25°
Average for July 20
26° / 24°

About average

  • Record high: 27.0° · 2023
  • Record low: 23.3° · 1942
  • One year ago: 25.1°

Every July 20 in history — coldest to hottest

Daily highsDaily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each July 20 on record (n = 87). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell — about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Freetown is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 8.49°N, 13.24°W, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
8.49°N, 13.24°W
Time zone
Africa/Freetown
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

30 of the last 31 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +1.1°C.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year — the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month — what a typical year looks like, from the full record.

Climate overview

Warmth in Freetown is remarkably steady: only 1.9°C separates the warmest month from the coolest, so there is no cold season to speak of. The year peaks in December, at 26.8°C over the day and around 27.5°C by mid-afternoon. The coolest month is August, when daily means fall to about 25.0°C and overnight lows sit around 24.3°C.

Most of the year's rain is packed into the months from June to October. The yearly total for Freetown comes to about 3105 mm; monthly amounts range from 10 mm in February up to 750 mm in August. A typical year brings rain or snow on around 210 days.

Comparing the record's first decade with its most recent one, Freetown now averages 0.8°C warmer than it did in the 1940s. The last decade has also run wetter, about 11% above the long-term precipitation average.

Climate graph (climograph)

December is the warmest month, August the coolest — a yearly swing of 2°C. Wettest month: August (~750 mm). Whole year averages ~3105 mm of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre — a measured proxy for how sunny the month is.

Freetown month by month — what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Record high/low are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainDaylightRecord highRecord low
January27.0°25.8°16 mm11.6 h31.3° (2004)22.1° (2016)
February26.6°25.6°10 mm11.7 h29.5° (1943)22.6° (1943)
March26.5°25.6°16 mm11.9 h29.1° (1998)23.3° (1986)
April27.0°26.0°41 mm12.2 h29.3° (1969)22.8° (1974)
May27.4°25.7°190 mm12.4 h29.6° (2024)23.6° (1943)
June26.8°24.9°414 mm12.5 h29.1° (2024)23.4° (1976)
July25.9°24.4°724 mm12.4 h27.9° (1995)23.1° (1942)
August25.6°24.3°750 mm12.3 h27.4° (2023)23.0° (1976)
September26.0°24.3°514 mm12.0 h28.6° (2023)23.1° (1985)
October26.7°24.6°262 mm11.8 h28.5° (2023)23.0° (1943)
November27.3°25.3°125 mm11.6 h29.1° (2015)22.6° (1947)
December27.5°26.0°44 mm11.5 h30.7° (2009)23.0° (1982)

How it has changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +0.8°C.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.10°C per decade.

One point per year — the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Sep–Nov is warming fastest: +0.13°C per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis — modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 25°C per year: 348.9 early in the record → 364.8 recently. Frost days: 0 → 0.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

All-time high in 2004, all-time low in 2016: 31.3°C / 22.1°C.

One point per year — the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~3105 mm/year on average. Last decade ran +11% vs that average. Long-term trend: 8 mm per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record — ~30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Freetown — Frequently asked questions

Which is the warmest month in Freetown?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Freetown is December (mean about 26.8°C) and the coolest is August (about 25.0°C).
How does today's temperature in Freetown compare to the historical average?
On 2026-07-20, Freetown is forecast to reach a high of 27.2°C and a low of 25.4°C. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 25.8°C and a low of 24.4°C — today's high is 1.4°C warmer than that average.
How much has Freetown warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Freetown is about 0.8°C warmer.
How much does it rain in Freetown?
Freetown receives about 3105 mm of precipitation per year on long-term average, with August typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Freetown?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Freetown is about 26.0°C. The warmest month is December and the coolest is August.
What are the average temperatures in Freetown by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Freetown (°C, full record since 1940): January 27°/26°, February 27°/26°, March 27°/26°, April 27°/26°, May 27°/26°, June 27°/25°, July 26°/24°, August 26°/24°, September 26°/24°, October 27°/25°, November 27°/25°, December 27°/26°.
How many days a year does it rain in Freetown?
On long-term average, Freetown has about 230 days a year with measurable rain, totalling roughly 3105 mm.

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