Is It Monsoon?
Kolkata, India JANUARY
19°
★★★
Peak season
13° to 26°
Cool & Sunny
The coldest month of the year, sunny and pleasant by day, though nights can occasionally dip below 10°C.
🧥 Light sweater for evenings☀️ Sunscreen
23°
★★★
Peak season
17° to 29°
Warm & Pleasant
Noticeably milder than January, with plenty of sunshine and comfortable days.
☀️ Sunscreen🧥 Light layers
28°
★★★
Shoulder season
22° to 34°
Heat Arrives
The pre-monsoon heat sets in fast, still dry but noticeably hotter than winter.
☀️ Sunscreen🥵 Heat building
30°
★★★
Shoulder season
24° to 36°
Very Hot
Daytime highs regularly push past 36°C, with the occasional afternoon storm.
🥵 Heat protection☔ Light rain jacket
31°
★★★
Shoulder season
26° to 36°
Hottest Month
The hottest month of the year, humid and increasingly wet as the monsoon approaches.
🥵 Extreme heat☔ Umbrella handy
31°
★★★
Off-peak season
27° to 34°
Monsoon Breaks
The rainy season begins in earnest, hot, muggy, and increasingly cloudy.
☔ Umbrella essential🥵 Stay hydrated
30°
★★★
Off-peak season
26° to 33°
Peak Monsoon
Among the wettest, cloudiest months of the year, with the least sunshine of the whole year.
☔ Heavy rain gear🌂 Least sunshine of the year
30°
★★★
Off-peak season
26° to 33°
Deep Monsoon
Still very wet and overcast, nearly as rainy as July.
☔ Heavy rain gear💧 Stay hydrated
30°
★★★
Shoulder season
26° to 33°
Monsoon Lingers
Rain remains frequent and heavy, with humidity staying high.
☔ Umbrella handy💧 Still humid
28°
★★★
Shoulder season
24° to 32°
Rains Ease
The wettest part of the monsoon passes, with noticeably more sunshine returning by the month's end.
📅
Durga Puja, dates vary each year
Kolkata's biggest festival by far, a UNESCO-recognized ten-day celebration with thousands of elaborate pandals built across the city to honor the goddess Durga. Falling on the Hindu lunar calendar, it usually lands in September or October, and the city gets extremely busy during it.
☔ Umbrella handy☀️ Sun returning
25°
★★★
Shoulder season
19° to 30°
Pleasant Lull
A genuinely good stretch of weather between the monsoon and winter, though a late-season cyclone can occasionally pass through.
🧥 Light layers🌀 Slight cyclone risk
20°
★★★
Peak season
14° to 27°
Cool & Clear
Dry, sunny, and mild, with the coolest, most comfortable weather of the year settling in.
🧥 Light sweater for evenings☀️ Sunscreen
Drag through the year Jan
⭐️
Jan
⭐️
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
⭐️
Dec
This month
Rainfall
13 mm
1 rainy day this month
Sunshine
7 hrs/day
54% of daylight hours
Humidity
69%
Comfortably humid
Wind
3 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
25 mm
2 rainy days this month
Sunshine
7.5 hrs/day
58% of daylight hours
Humidity
64%
Comfortably humid
Wind
5 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
30 mm
2 rainy days this month
Sunshine
7.5 hrs/day
58% of daylight hours
Humidity
61%
Comfortably humid
Wind
6 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
56 mm
4 rainy days this month
Sunshine
8 hrs/day
62% of daylight hours
Humidity
68%
Comfortably humid
Wind
10 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
155 mm
7 rainy days this month
Sunshine
7.5 hrs/day
58% of daylight hours
Humidity
73%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
10 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
295 mm
13 rainy days this month
Sunshine
4.5 hrs/day
35% of daylight hours
Humidity
80%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
8 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
345 mm
17 rainy days this month
Sunshine
3.5 hrs/day
27% of daylight hours
Humidity
83%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
8 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
345 mm
17 rainy days this month
Sunshine
4 hrs/day
31% of daylight hours
Humidity
84%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
6 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
305 mm
13 rainy days this month
Sunshine
4 hrs/day
31% of daylight hours
Humidity
83%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
6 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
160 mm
7 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6.5 hrs/day
50% of daylight hours
Humidity
78%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
5 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
20 mm
1 rainy day this month
Sunshine
7 hrs/day
54% of daylight hours
Humidity
71%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
3 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
10 mm
0 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6.5 hrs/day
50% of daylight hours
Humidity
71%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
3 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
★★★ peak season, ★★☆ decent shoulder months, ★☆☆ true off-peak, based on rain frequency, heat, and haze.
Seasons at a glance
🌟
Peak season: Jan, Feb, Dec
Kolkata's most comfortable stretch, sunny and pleasantly warm, largely free of both the summer heat and the monsoon's rain. Nights can occasionally dip below 10°C, so a sweater and light jacket are worth packing.
🌤️
Shoulder season: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov
This tier spans real variety. November sits right after the monsoon, dry and warm with a genuinely pleasant lull, though a late-season cyclone can still occasionally pass through. March marks the start of the pre-monsoon heat, building through April and peaking in May as the monsoon approaches. September is still deep in the rains, while October sees the wettest part of the monsoon ease and sunshine gradually return.
☔
Off-peak season: Jun, Jul, Aug
The heart of the summer monsoon, hot, humid, and heavily overcast, with July bringing the least sunshine of the entire year. Rain is a near-daily event through this stretch, and cyclone activity also picks up again as the season transitions in and out.
Good to know
✈️
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International
Kolkata's airport connects to major Indian cities and a growing number of international destinations across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
🎉
Durga Puja transforms the whole city
Kolkata's biggest festival, a UNESCO-recognized celebration with thousands of elaborate pandals built across the city, is also the single busiest and most crowded week of the year to visit.
🌀
Cyclone risk peaks before and after the monsoon
Storms from the Bay of Bengal can affect the city from April to December, with the sharpest risk from late April to early June and again in October and November. Cyclone Aila (2009) and Cyclone Amphan (2020) both caused major damage.
🌊
The city sits in a flood-prone delta
Kolkata's river, the Hooghly, is a branch of the Ganges, and the wider Ganges-Brahmaputra delta region is particularly prone to flooding during heavy rain.
Top attractions
1
Victoria Memorial
A vast white marble monument to Queen Victoria, built between 1906 and 1921, now a museum with 25 galleries of colonial-era art, artifacts, and portraiture.
2
Howrah Bridge
A cantilever bridge spanning the Hooghly River, opened in 1943 and officially named Rabindra Setu, still one of the busiest bridges of its kind in the world and an enduring symbol of the city.
3
Indian Museum
India's oldest and largest museum, founded in 1814, holding a vast collection of ancient sculpture, fossils, coins, and textiles just a short walk from Victoria Memorial.