Analysis of Extreme Daily Rainfall in Cotonou, Benin (West Africa)

Global warming has a global impact on the water cycle and in particular on precipitation. This work is devoted to the analysis of the variability of extreme rainfall in the economic capital of Benin. For this purpose, the 58-year daily rainfall data collected at the Meteo Benin synoptic station in Cotonou between 1960 and 2018 are used. The annual daily maxima was established for the analysis. The generalized distribution of extreme values ​​(GEV) is used to estimate the quantiles according to the defined return periods. The daily heavy rainfall had a normal character with return periods of less than six years in Cotonou, between 1960 and 2018. There was a marginal increase in frequency of extreme rainfall since the beginning of 21st century. Extreme rainfall events may lead to floods as seen in 2010. Therefore, pro-active short- and long-term measures are the need of the hour to cope up against rainfall variability under the global warming scenario.