Weather locations in India

India extends from the tropical south near the equator to the Himalayan foothills in the north, so the country runs the whole range of climate groups, from equatorial wet zones to hot desert and winter frost. Almost the entire country is shaped by the monsoon, the great seasonal reversal of wind between the summer heats over the Indian Ocean and the dry continental high in winter, and it is this that decides when and where the rain falls.

Main climate types

The peninsula, including the Deccan and the Coromandel coast, is a tropical savanna climate with a long dry season. The western coast and the western Ghats, together with the eastern Himalayan slopes around Meghalaya, are tropical rainforest and take far more rain than anywhere else in the country. The Indo-Gangetic plain and the northern plateau are humid subtropical, the Thar Desert in the west is arid, and the far north is cold and mountainous.

Temperatures

New Delhi averages about 15 °C in January and about 33 °C in May, its hottest month, while Mumbai stays near 24 °C in January and about 27 °C in July. Chennai in the far south holds a steady 26 °C to 29 °C all year. Northern winter nights can fall near freezing around Delhi, and hill stations such as Shimla and Darjeeling stay cool through the summer because of their altitude.

Rainfall

Annual totals run from about 300 mm in the Thar Desert to more than 2,200 mm on the western coast and over 10,000 mm in places on the eastern Himalayan slopes. Almost all of the rain comes with the south-west monsoon between June and September. The north-east coast and the eastern peninsula receive a second, smaller peak from the north-east monsoon in October and early December, and this is when the Coromandel coast is at its wettest.

When to go

November to February is the best season for most of the country, with mild days and clear skies in the north and the hill stations at their most pleasant. The monsoon months are best avoided inland except as a spectacle, and the hot season from March to May is often very uncomfortable outside the hills.