Weather

At the borders of the clenching grasp of the Sahara, the southern part of Mali is the most hospitable. The rainy season - when torrential downpours and thunderstorms are preceded by strong winds - runs from June to September with July and August the wettest months. It's hottest between April and June, when temperatures frequently exceed 40°C (104°F). September and October are also extremely hot and Timbuktu in particular can be unpleasant. From November through January the alize (a steady, mild northeasterly) wind blows cooler air, keeping daytime temperatures in the 30s (86-102°F) - Malians refer to this period as the cold season! From January to June, the hot and dusty harmattan (a dry, dusty wind) blows, irritating throats and, on some days, reducing visibility to a few hundred metres. December to March tends to have the best combination of heat and humidity with neither being too high - at least by Mali standards.