Climate of Rajasthan

Climate of Rajasthan can be divided into four seasons: Pre-Monsoons, Monsoon, Post-Monsoon and Winter. Pre-monsoon, which extends from April to June, is the hottest season, with temperatures ranging from 32oC to 45oC. In western Rajasthan the temp may rise to 48C, particularly in May and June. At this time, Rajasthan only hill station, Mt Abu registers the lowest temperatures. In the desert regions, the temperatures drops in night. Prevailing winds are from the west and sometimes carry dust storms (we call them andhi).

The second season Monsoon extends from July to September, temp drops but humidity increases making it very un comfortable, even when there is slight drop in the temp (35oC to 40oC). We have about 90% of our rains in this period. The Post-monsoon period is from Oct to December. The average maximum temperature is 33oC to 38oC, and the minimum is between 18oC and 20oC.

Given its varied topography, the climate of Rajasthan greatly varies throughout the state. In the west, Rajasthan is relatively dry and infertile; this area includes some of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert. In the southwestern part of the state, the land is wetter, hilly and more fertile. The climate varies throughout Rajasthan. On average winter temperatures range from 8° to 28° C (46° to 82° F) and summer temperatures range from 25° to 46° C (77° to 115° F).

The month of March marks the beginning of summer and the temperature starts rising progressively through April, May and June. The temperature rise during this period is almost uniform all over the state. In the western part, mainly at Bikaner, Phalodi, Jaisalmer and Barmer, the maximum daily temperatures varies between 40oC to 45oC. Occasionally, it rises to 49oC during the summer months.

The diurnal temperature variation is greater in summers. The minimum daily temperature drops down considerably at night and remains between 20oC to 29oC. On the eastern side of the Aravalli range, the day temperatures are in a similar range but night temperatures hover around 26oC. At Udaipur and Mount Abu, temperature, however, is relatively lower and the mean daily maximum temperature in summer reaches 38oC and 31.5oC, respectively. The daily minimum temperature for these two stations is around 25oC and 22oC, respectively.

The isotherms of summer (June) show variations from 42oC (Sirohi district) to above 47oC (Ganganagar district). A major part of the state , comprising the arid zone of the west and the semi-arid zone of the mid-west, has an average maximum of 45oC in this month. However, in the south-eastern parts, the isotherms show a declining trend from 43oC to 37oC.