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India is a vast country and has numerous climatic differences within it. The climate of India varies between the humid tropical climate of the Malabar coast (Kerala and Karnataka) and the Laccadive, Nicobar and Andaman islands. We then move on to the tropical wet-dry climate of the coast along the Gulf of Bengal (Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh) and Maharashtra. To get to the semi-arid climate of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the interior of the Deccan. Then we find the arid climate of Rajasthan. The humid sub-tropical climate of the Ganges and Brahmaputra valleys. Up to the mountain climate that characterizes the states of the Himalayan area such as Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian climate is deeply influenced, differentiated and caused by three main geographical factors. The first factor is India’s position between the Equator and the Tropic. The second factor is the presence of the warm Indian ocean waters surrounding the country. Finally, the third factor is given by the presence of the Himalaya mountain range which blocks the masses of cold air from the north.
A CLIMATE REGULATED BY MONSOON
What all India has in common is its monsoon-like climate, due to the blowing of winds that blow from opposite directions during the year, causing the seasons to alternate.
The northeast monsoon blowing from January causes good weather and cool temperatures that can reach average values between 15°C and 10°C in northern India and temperatures around 25°C in southern India. In this phase, the climate is generally cool, clear and dry.
Starting from the month of March the temperatures tend to increase in all over India and are close to 40°C in the north-western and central parts of India, the country undergoes a strong heating just before the start of the rainy season.
With the month of June comes the south-west monsoon and the rainy season begins that lasts until September, the first monsoon reaches the coast of Kerala and then invests across the country causing heavy monsoon rains across India, about the 80% of the annual rainfall is concentrated in these four months.
Between the end of September and December, the monsoon begins to weaken, the rains diminish in intensity, but at this time there are cyclones along the coastline along the Bay of Bengal, ie along the east coast of India and in Bangladesh.
THE RAINS VARY VERY BETWEEN INDIAN REGIONS
The amount of rainfall varies greatly from region to region based on the climate of India. The rainiest areas of the country are the northeastern states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and the northern part of West Bengal (West Bengal)), the Andaman and Nicobar islands, the coast south-western (Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra) and the north-western areas close to the Himalaya. In these areas, the 2,000 mm of rainfall per year is abundantly exceeded and in some places it reaches 3,500 mm per year.
In the plain of the Ganges rainfall is less intense, here there are averages ranging between 700 mm and 1000 mm per year. The more arid areas of India are the northern regions of Ladakh, Punjab and Rajasthan, where there are precipitations values ranging between 200 mm and 600 mm per year.
WHEN TO GO TO INDIA?
The best time to travel in India are undoubtedly the cooler and dry months between January and March, characterized by clear skies and low humidity. Only the north-western Himalayan states of Kashmir and Ladakh have the best season for travel between June and September.
Climate of Laccadive Islands (Lakshadweep Islands).
THE CLIMATE OF INDIA: CLIMATIC TABLES
CLIMATIC TABLES: NEW DELHI
NEW DELHI (210 meters) | ||||
Month | Average low (°C) | Average high (°C) | Precip. (mm) | Precip. days |
January | 7,6 | 20,5 | 19,3 | 1,3 |
February | 10,4 | 23,9 | 22,1 | 1,8 |
March | 15,6 | 29,6 | 15,9 | 1,6 |
April | 21,3 | 36,3 | 13,0 | 1,2 |
May | 25,8 | 39,5 | 31,5 | 2,5 |
June | 27,9 | 39,2 | 82,2 | 4,6 |
July | 27,4 | 35,4 | 187,3 | 9,4 |
August | 26,6 | 34,1 | 232,5 | 9,8 |
September | 25,0 | 34,1 | 129,8 | 5,5 |
October | 19,1 | 32,8 | 14,3 | 1,0 |
November | 12,9 | 28,2 | 4,9 | 0,5 |
December | 8,3 | 23,1 | 9,4 | 0,9 |
YEAR | 19,0 | 31,4 | 762,3 | 40,1 |
CLIMATIC TABLES: HYDERABAD
HYDERABAD (505 meters) | ||||
Month | Average low (°C) | Average high (°C) | Precip. (mm) | Precip. days |
January | 15,2 | 28,8 | 13,2 | 0,6 |
February | 17,6 | 31,9 | 7,9 | 0,8 |
March | 20,8 | 35,4 | 15,3 | 1,0 |
April | 24,3 | 37,9 | 20,2 | 2,1 |
May | 26,2 | 39,0 | 35,7 | 3,4 |
June | 24,0 | 34,5 | 103,8 | 10,0 |
July | 22,6 | 30,8 | 169,9 | 12,4 |
August | 22,1 | 29,8 | 178,7 | 14,1 |
September | 22,0 | 30,5 | 158,3 | 9,7 |
October | 20,3 | 30,6 | 97,2 | 6,3 |
November | 16,9 | 29,0 | 22,4 | 2,9 |
December | 14,5 | 28,0 | 5,9 | 0,7 |
YEAR | 20,5 | 32,2 | 828,5 | 64,0 |
CLIMATIC TABLES: CALCUTTA
CALCUTTA / KOLKATA (9 meters) | ||||
Month | Average low (°C) | Average high (°C) | Precip. (mm) | Precip. days |
January | 13,8 | 26,4 | 11 | 1,2 |
February | 16,9 | 29,1 | 30 | 2,2 |
March | 21,7 | 33,5 | 35 | 3,0 |
April | 25,1 | 35,3 | 60 | 4,8 |
May | 26,0 | 35,4 | 142 | 8,7 |
June | 26,5 | 34,0 | 288 | 14,7 |
July | 26,1 | 32,3 | 411 | 20,5 |
August | 26,1 | 32,1 | 349 | 20,2 |
September | 25,8 | 32,4 | 288 | 15,7 |
October | 23,9 | 32,3 | 143 | 8,1 |
November | 19,6 | 30,3 | 26 | 1,5 |
December | 14,5 | 27,0 | 17 | 0,9 |
YEAR | 22,2 | 31,7 | 1800 | 101,5 |
CLIMATIC TABLES: BOMBAY
BOMBAY / MUMBAI (14 meters) | ||||
Month | Average low (°C) | Average high (°C) | Precip. (mm) | Precip. days |
January | 16,8 | 30,7 | 0,6 | 0,1 |
February | 17,8 | 31,2 | 1,3 | 0,1 |
March | 21,0 | 32,5 | 0,2 | 0,0 |
April | 23,9 | 33,0 | 0,7 | 0,1 |
May | 26,3 | 33,3 | 12,5 | 0,7 |
June | 26,0 | 32,1 | 523,1 | 14,5 |
July | 24,9 | 30,0 | 799,7 | 23,2 |
August | 24,7 | 29,6 | 529,7 | 21,4 |
September | 24,3 | 30,4 | 312,3 | 14,4 |
October | 23,4 | 33,2 | 55,8 | 3,0 |
November | 20,9 | 33,5 | 16,8 | 1,0 |
December | 18,6 | 32,0 | 5,3 | 0,4 |
YEAR | 22,4 | 31,8 | 2258 | 78,9 |
CLIMATIC TABLES: COCHIN
COCHIN / KOCHI (1 meter) | ||||
Month | Average low (°C) | Average high (°C) | Precip. (mm) | Precip. days |
January | 22,6 | 31,7 | 23,3 | 1,0 |
February | 24,0 | 31,9 | 25,9 | 1,2 |
March | 25,3 | 32,5 | 30,8 | 2,3 |
April | 25,9 | 32,9 | 94,8 | 6,2 |
May | 25,7 | 32,3 | 282,8 | 10,7 |
June | 24,1 | 30,1 | 705,8 | 23,2 |
July | 23,7 | 29,3 | 593,6 | 22,3 |
August | 23,9 | 29,3 | 403,1 | 20,0 |
September | 24,2 | 30,0 | 279,6 | 13,8 |
October | 24,1 | 30,6 | 320,3 | 14,3 |
November | 24,0 | 31,2 | 174,9 | 7,8 |
December | 23,1 | 31,8 | 43,2 | 1,9 |
YEAR | 24,2 | 31,1 | 2978 | 124,7 |
CLIMATIC TABLES: MADRAS
MADRAS / CHENNAI (6 meters) | ||||
Month | Average low (°C) | Average high (°C) | Precip. (mm) | Precip. days |
January | 20,9 | 28,8 | 22,5 | 1,3 |
February | 22,0 | 30,5 | 2,2 | 0,4 |
March | 23,8 | 32,5 | 4,0 | 0,3 |
April | 26,4 | 34,3 | 7,7 | 0,6 |
May | 27,9 | 36,8 | 43,9 | 1,4 |
June | 27,5 | 36,9 | 55,9 | 4,0 |
July | 26,3 | 35,0 | 100,3 | 6,0 |
August | 25,7 | 34,3 | 140,4 | 8,5 |
September | 25,5 | 33,9 | 137,3 | 7,1 |
October | 24,5 | 31,8 | 278,8 | 10,6 |
November | 23,0 | 29,6 | 407,4 | 11,7 |
December | 21,9 | 28,5 | 191,1 | 6,3 |
YEAR | 24,6 | 32,8 | 1391,5 | 59,1 |
INDIA CLIMATE: SEA WATER TEMPERATURES
GOA | ||||
Month | Sea Water Temperature °C | |||
January | 28 | |||
February | 28 | |||
March | 29 | |||
April | 29 | |||
May | 30 | |||
June | 29 | |||
July | 28 | |||
August | 27 | |||
September | 28 | |||
October | 28 | |||
November | 29 | |||
December | 28 |
KOVALAM (KERALA) | ||||
Month | Sea Water Temperature °C | |||
January | 28 | |||
February | 28 | |||
March | 29 | |||
April | 30 | |||
May | 30 | |||
June | 28 | |||
July | 27 | |||
August | 27 | |||
September | 28 | |||
October | 28 | |||
November | 28 | |||
December | 28 |
PONDICHERY | ||||
Month | Sea Water Temperature °C | |||
January | 27 | |||
February | 27 | |||
March | 29 | |||
April | 30 | |||
May | 30 | |||
June | 29 | |||
July | 28 | |||
August | 28 | |||
September | 29 | |||
October | 29 | |||
November | 28 | |||
December | 27 |