Climate of Tamil Nadu

The climate of Tamil Nadu is tropical in nature with little variation in summer and winter temperatures. While April-June is the hottest summer period with the temperature rising up to the 40ºC mark, November-February is the coolest winter period with temperature hovering around 20ºC, making the climate quite pleasant.

Surprisingly, Tamil Nadu gets all its rains from the North-east Monsoons between October and December, when the rest of Tamil Nadu remains dry. The average annual rainfalls in Tamil Nadu range between 25 and 75 inches (635 and 1,905 mm) a year.

During summers (April- June), the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu become uncomfortably warm and humid, but the cool sea breezes in the afternoon make nights cool and pleasant. In this period the enchanting hill stations of the state provide much needed respite from heat and humidity of the plains.

The best period to visit Tamil Nadu is between Octobers to March, when the climate becomes pleasantly cool.

Monsoon

In Tamil Nadu the rainy season is between October and December when the Northeast monsoon brings rain in spurts. The average annual rainfall, falling mainly between October and December, ranges between 25 and 75 inches. The most precipitation falls in the Nilgiris and other hill areas.

Winter

Winter falls between November-February during which, the mercury hardly falls below 20°C (54 F approx.), except in the hill stations. The winter monsoons of Tamil Nadu occur in the months of October to December. The lowest temperatures are recorded during December and January.