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.

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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.

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THE CLIMATE OF INDIA: CLIMATIC TABLES

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CLIMATIC TABLES: NEW DELHI

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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

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CLIMATIC TABLES: HYDERABAD

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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

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CLIMATIC TABLES: CALCUTTA

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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

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CLIMATIC TABLES: BOMBAY

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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

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CLIMATIC TABLES: COCHIN

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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

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CLIMATIC TABLES: MADRAS

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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

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INDIA CLIMATE: SEA WATER TEMPERATURES

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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

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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

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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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