Mali 
In numbers.
379m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Aug–Nov
Best months
34m
Elevation
The water at Félou Falls, month by month
It roars from August to October.
The fullest months: from August to October. The thinnest: from December to June.
- 79 m³/sJan
- 59 m³/sFeb
- 59 m³/sMar
- 59 m³/sApr
- 61 m³/sMay
- 115 m³/sJun
- 390 m³/sJul
- 904 m³/sAug
- 1,170 m³/sSep
- 1,045 m³/sOct
- 729 m³/sNov
- 307 m³/sDec
From about 59 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,170 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from August to November.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Getting there.
- Kayesnearest town · 15 km in a straight line
- Kayes Dag Dag Airport (KYS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 15 km in a straight line
- From August to Novemberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 13 m in 3.6 km.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- —car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- —other named waterfalls within 4 km
- —caves
- —campsites
- —hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km
- —restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Kayes15 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 34 | 37 | 40 | 43 | 43 | 39 | 34 | 32 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 34 |
| Night °C | 16 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 29 | 28 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 17 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 65 | 166 | 250 | 171 | 39 | 2 | 0 |
| Wet days | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 26 | 29 | 26 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Sun h/day | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.9 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 8.9 | 7.8 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 9.1 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (34 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | — | — | — | — | 76% | 69% | 162% | 90% | 144% | 129% | — | — |
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | 27% | 153% | 87% | 121% | 121% | 90% | — | — |
| 2022 | — | — | — | — | 322% | 110% | 52% | 144% | 104% | 172% | — | — |
| 2023 | — | — | — | — | 173% | 133% | 185% | 18% | 26% | 41% | — | — |
| 2024 | — | — | — | — | 56% | 103% | 111% | 80% | 160% | 124% | — | — |
| 2025 | — | — | — | — | 164% | 75% | 21% | 22% | 21% | 54% | — | — |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Félou Falls
Mali
- —Height
- 379 m³/sAverage flow
- Aug–NovBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q604144) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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