Lagos weather by month: averages, rainfall & climate trends
Africa's most populous city fans out across Atlantic lagoons and barrier islands in southwestern Nigeria, living by the rhythm of a tropical year: a drenching wet season from the coast and dry months when the harmattan carries Saharan dust from the north. Lagos weather by month: average temperatures, rainfall, records and how the climate has changed since 1940.
Today vs average
+2.4°Chigh above average
How it's changed
+1.4°Caverage temperature, 2016–2025 vs 1940–1949average temperature vs 1940–49144days above 30°C a year now (2016–2025) · 29 in the 1940sdays above 30°C · 29 in the 1940s+1.4°C vs the 1940s · see how it's changed →Weather by montha typical year, averaged over the full recordJanuary, rain 45 mmhigh 29°low 25°February, rain 66 mmhigh 30°low 26°March, rain 126 mmhigh 30°low 26°April, rain 167 mmhigh 30°low 26°May, rain 240 mmhigh 29°low 25°June, rain 303 mmhigh 28°low 25°July, rain 241 mmhigh 26°low 24°August, rain 148 mmhigh 26°low 24°September, rain 187 mmhigh 27°low 24°October, rain 183 mmhigh 28°low 24°November, rain 101 mmhigh 29°low 25°December, rain 55 mmhigh 29°low 25°wettest month June, 303 mm · 1,864 mm a yearsee month by month →Right now
What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.Right now
27.4°
On this date: October 18
High above average · +2.4°C
- Record high: 29.8° · 1979
- Record low: 22.9° · 1986
- One year ago: 29° / 26°
Every October 18 in history, coldest to hottest
Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each October 18 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 Lagos is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 6.45°N, 3.39°E, with daily records since 1940.
- Coordinates
- 6.45°N, 3.39°E
- Time zone
- Africa/Lagos
- 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: +1.4°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, showing 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: a typical year, from the full record.Climate overview
Lagos spreads along a coastal lagoon system on the southwestern corner of Nigeria, separated from the open Atlantic by barrier islands and sand spits, with a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw). A well-defined wet season from roughly May through October brings heavy rainfall as moisture from the Atlantic moves northward with the Intertropical Convergence Zone, with June typically the wettest month. From November through April the dry season takes hold, with January among the driest months of the year.
During the dry season, Lagos is periodically reached by the harmattan: a dry, dust-laden northeast trade wind that blows south from the Sahara across West Africa. Though less intense along the coast than further inland, the harmattan can arrive with force between December and early February, stripping moisture from the air and filling the atmosphere with a fine haze. The city's network of lagoons and barrier islands, which historically shaped its layout, also makes it acutely vulnerable to flooding and, over longer timescales, to rising sea levels along this low-lying coastline.
The year peaks in March, at around 29.8°C by mid-afternoon, with nights around 26.2°C. In August, the coolest month, afternoons reach about 26.1°C and nights dip to 23.6°C.
The yearly total for Lagos comes to about 1,864 mm; monthly amounts range from 45 mm in January up to 303 mm in June.
Comparing the record's first decade with its most recent one, Lagos now averages 1.4°C warmer than it did in the 1940s. Days above 30°C have grown noticeably more frequent, from around 30 a year in the first decade to about 145 in the last.
Climate graph (climograph)
March is the warmest month, August the coolest: a yearly swing of 3°C. Wettest month: June (~303 mm). Whole year averages ~1,864 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: the record's own proxy for how sunny the month is.
Lagos 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.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain | Daylight | Record high | Record low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29.3° | 24.9° | 45 mm | 11.7 h | 32.6° (2025) | 19.0° (1957) |
| February | 29.9° | 25.7° | 66 mm | 11.8 h | 33.6° (1944) | 20.7° (1945) |
| March | 29.8° | 26.2° | 126 mm | 12.0 h | 32.9° (1998) | 22.9° (1967) |
| April | 29.6° | 26.1° | 167 mm | 12.1 h | 32.6° (2024) | 23.4° (1975) |
| May | 28.9° | 25.5° | 240 mm | 12.3 h | 32.0° (2023) | 23.0° (1967) |
| June | 27.5° | 24.6° | 303 mm | 12.4 h | 30.6° (2025) | 22.8° (1997) |
| July | 26.4° | 23.9° | 241 mm | 12.3 h | 29.1° (2024) | 21.2° (1954) |
| August | 26.1° | 23.6° | 148 mm | 12.2 h | 29.3° (2023) | 21.0° (1943) |
| September | 26.8° | 23.9° | 187 mm | 12.0 h | 29.5° (2023) | 21.7° (1950) |
| October | 27.8° | 24.5° | 183 mm | 11.9 h | 30.5° (2023) | 22.4° (1974) |
| November | 28.9° | 25.2° | 101 mm | 11.7 h | 32.1° (2024) | 23.0° (1975) |
| December | 29.2° | 25.0° | 55 mm | 11.6 h | 32.7° (2024) | 20.9° (1945) |
How it's changed
Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.Climate stripes
Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +1.4°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: +0.17°C per decade.
One point per year, showing 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: +0.19°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 ≥ 30°C per year: 29.4 early in the record → 143.7 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 1944, all-time low in 1957: 33.6°C / 19.0°C.
One point per year: the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.
Annual rainfall
~1,864 mm/year on average. Last decade: −9% vs that average. Long-term trend: −31 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, about 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).
Frequently asked questions about Lagos
Which is the warmest month in Lagos?
How does today's temperature in Lagos compare to the historical average?
How much has Lagos warmed since 1940?
How much does it rain in Lagos?
What is the average temperature in Lagos?
What are the average temperatures in Lagos by month?
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