Sierra Leone Climate
Top 5 Cities: Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Koidu, and Makeni
This month in numbers
Sierra Leone experienced its 7th warmest April on record, with an average temperature of 28.22°C, which is 1°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. The global land temperature for April 2026 also ranked as the 2nd warmest on record, at 14.96°C, an anomaly of +1.1°C compared to the baseline.
What changed
The period from February to April 2026 was the 2nd warmest on record for Sierra Leone, with an average temperature of 28.61°C, an anomaly of +1.3°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. This trend aligns with the broader global picture, as the global land temperature for the same three-month period also ranked as the 2nd warmest on record. Sierra Leone's average temperature for 2025 was 26.86°C, making it the warmest year on record. The country has a long-term warming trend of +0.88°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline.
What’s driving change?
The warming trend in Sierra Leone is part of a broader global pattern, with the contributing to higher-latitude regions warming faster than the tropics, although tropical regions like Sierra Leone are already close to the limits of human heat tolerance. Sierra Leone is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as floods, landslides, coastal erosion, extreme heat, and erratic rainfall. The country has experienced significant flooding and mudslides in recent years, notably in August 2017 when torrential rainfall led to a catastrophic event in Freetown, killing over 1,100 people and displacing thousands. has been identified as a contributing factor to increased storms in West Africa and exacerbates the impact of heavy rainfall.
Looking ahead
Sierra Leone is entering its rainy season, which typically runs from May to October, and is expected to bring daily afternoon storms.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Sierra Leone
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) - see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Sierra Leone changing?
Sierra Leone is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Sierra Leone come from?
Climate data for Sierra Leone comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Sierra Leone climate data cover?
The Sierra Leone climate profile covers Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Koidu and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Sierra Leone
How often is the Sierra Leone climate update refreshed?
The Sierra Leone climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.