Weather locations in Nepal

Nepal is a country built from the bottom up: tropical footlands in the Terai plains, a temperate belt of hills and valleys, and then the highest mountains on earth. Its climate therefore changes with altitude far more sharply than with season, and the Himalayan wall along the north is the reason for the summer monsoon, its heavy rain and its shifting weather.

Main climate types

Lowland Nepal, the Terai, is tropical savanna, warm and often humid at any time of year. The hill region, which includes Kathmandu and Pokhara, is a temperate highland type with four clear seasons. Above about 4,000 metres the climate turns subarctic, and the highest summits are permanently icy. The Himalayan range forces the summer monsoon up, and the southern slopes, especially in the east, receive an enormous amount of rain.

Temperatures

Kathmandu, at 1,400 metres, averages about 12 in the coolest months of December and January and about 23 to 25 in July and August. Pokhara, at 900 metres, averages about 15 in January and 25 in July, and its nights are noticeably colder than its days. Nights above 4,000 metres fall below freezing, and the highest trekking passes are closed by snow and ice for part of the year.

Rainfall

Kathmandu receives about 1,400 millimetres a year, most of it from the monsoon between late June and early September, while the eastern Himalaya and the Khumbu take considerably more. Western Nepal is much drier, and the rain shadow behind the range makes the north-west of the country semi-arid. Snowfall is common above 3,000 metres.

When to go

Late September to November is the best trekking season, with clear skies, moderate temperatures and settled weather. The spring months of March and April are also good, and rhododendrons are in bloom. The monsoon months of July and August bring rain, cloud and landslides, and the deep winter makes high passes difficult.