Togo

Togo is located in West Africa on the Guinea Coast. At latitudes of 6‐12°N, the climate of Togo is tropical, and strongly influenced by the West African Monsoon.

The rainfall seasons of Togo are controlled by the movement of the tropical rain belt, which oscillates between the northern and southern tropics over the course of a year. In northern Togo, there is a single wet season occurring between May and November, when the ITCZ is in its northern position and the prevailing wind is south‐westerly, and a dry season between December and March when the ‘Harmattan’ wind blows north‐easterly.

The seasonal rainfall in this region varies considerably on inter‐annual and inter‐decadal timescales, due in part to variations in the movements and intensity of the ITCZ, and variations in timing and intensity of the West African Monsoon.

The most well documented cause of these variations is the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). El Niño events are associated with drier conditions in West Africa. Seasonal variations in temperature in Togo are greatest in the north, with highest temperatures in the hot, dry season at 27‐32°C, and lowest at 25‐27°C. Further south, temperatures reach up to 27‐32°C in the warmest season, and 22‐25°C at their lowest.

Source: University of Oxford, School of Geography and the Environment. Accessed on 23 November 2009 at: http://country-profiles.geog.ox.ac.uk .