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The climate of India: when to go to India ?

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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).

Climate of Sikkim.

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

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