Himachal Pradesh Weather Forecast & Climate Summary
Himachal Pradesh spans the western Himalaya from monsoon-drenched lower hills to a cold, dry, rain-shadowed trans-Himalayan desert in Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur — a divide almost as sharp as Kerala's coast-versus-Ghats contrast, but produced by the Himalaya's own topography rather than a coastline. For live interactive rainfall, wind and satellite maps over Himachal Pradesh, open VayuMet.
Geography & Seasonal Cycle
Elevation rises from around 350 m in the Shivalik foothills (Una, the Kangra fringe) through the mid-hills around Shimla, Mandi and Kullu, to over 6,000 m in the high Himalaya of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur. The Pir Panjal and Great Himalayan ranges block most direct monsoon moisture from reaching the trans-Himalayan valleys beyond them, producing a genuinely cold, dry, desert-like climate there despite the same state's lower hills being among the wetter parts of the western Himalaya.
Winter (December-March) brings significant snowfall to the mid- and high hills via western disturbances — the backbone of the state's ski tourism economy and, through snowmelt, its river systems. The monsoon (July-September), arriving slightly later and running shorter than on the plains, drenches the lower and mid hills (Kangra, Mandi) heavily but barely reaches Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur beyond the high ranges. Spring and autumn are comparatively short transitional seasons.
Weather Systems by Season
Himachal's winter tourism economy and its rivers' summer flow both depend heavily on how many western disturbances arrive each winter and how much snow they deposit on the mid- and high hills.
The Kangra and Mandi belt is among the wetter parts of the western Himalaya, while Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur, shielded by the Pir Panjal and Great Himalaya, receive only a fraction of that rain.
Steep river valleys such as the Beas and Sutlej are prone to sudden, highly localised extreme rainfall events (cloudbursts) that can produce fast-moving flash floods with little warning.
Frequencies cited from published IMD/IITM climatology where a source is named inline; day-count figures in the table below are computed directly from the 1951–2025 IMD daily archive.
Seasonal Weather Data
The table below is a state-wide average across Himachal Pradesh's 12 districts, built from IMD's real 1991-2020 gridded rainfall/temperature normals and 1951-2025 daily archives (not a forecast). Lower hill districts and the high, dry Lahaul-Spiti/Kinnaur belt sit at opposite extremes of this average — use the district climatology tool linked below for any single district's own figures.
| Season | Rainfall (mm) | Rain days | Mean Max / Min (°C) | Typical Hottest / Coldest (°C) | Sky (Sunny·Partly·Overcast days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Jan–Feb | 81.8 | 21.3 | 10.4 / 0.2 | 13.7 / -1.5 | 10.8·47.4·0.8 |
| Pre-Monsoon (Summer) Mar–May | 105.5 | 36.9 | 21.4 / 9.2 | 26.8 / 2.7 | 29.9·61.5·0.6 |
| Monsoon (SW) Jun–Sep | 769.2 | 87.8 | 24.9 / 16.0 | 28.1 / 11.9 | 49.9·72.0·0.1 |
| Post-Monsoon Oct–Dec | 35.3 | 14.5 | 16.6 / 4.9 | 23.2 / -0.8 | 55.2·36.8·0.0 |
State figures are a simple average across 12 member districts (IMD Pune 1991–2020 normal; day-count and sky figures from real 1951–2025 daily archives — see District Climatology tool for any single district's own numbers, which can differ substantially from this state average).
Recorded Extremes (IMD 1951–2025 Gridded Data)
- Highest maximum temperature recorded (Hamirpur): 42.1°C — 31 May 1988
- Lowest minimum temperature recorded (Lahul & Spiti): -4.7°C — 29 Jan 1964
- Highest 24-hour rainfall recorded (Kinnaur): 516 mm — 27 Dec 1958
- Highest monthly rainfall recorded (Shimla): 2228 mm — Jan 1968
Computed directly from the real IMD 1951–2025 daily gridded archive — not a forecast, and not the same as a single-station record. IMD's gridded temperature is 1°×1° (~111 km/cell) and rainfall is 0.25°×0.25° (~25 km/cell); both are spatial analyses of many station observations; a famous single-station record (e.g. a specific town's all-time hottest day) will typically read higher than the grid-cell value shown here, since one station reading isn't smoothed over a ~25–111 km box. "Place" is the nearest district to the grid cell where the extreme occurred, not necessarily the exact spot.
Risk Profile
Monsoon (Jul-Sep). The Beas and Sutlej valleys are prone to sudden, highly localised cloudburst events that can produce fast-moving, dangerous flash floods.
Monsoon (Jul-Sep). The state's extensive hill-road network is highly exposed to monsoon-triggered landslides.
Winter (Dec-Mar). High-altitude areas face avalanche risk and periodic heavy snowfall that can cut off road access for days.
Long-term. The state's high-Himalayan glacial areas fall within the broader Himalayan glacial-hazard zone of growing scientific and disaster-management concern.
Himachal Pradesh Weather Highlights
- Himachal Pradesh's climate divide between the wet lower hills and the dry, cold trans-Himalayan Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur region is produced entirely by the Himalaya's own topography blocking monsoon moisture.
- Its winter tourism economy and river systems are both directly tied to how much snow western disturbances deposit each year, making the state unusually sensitive to disturbance-track variability.
- Cloudburst-driven flash floods in valleys like the Beas and Sutlej are a recurring, high-impact hazard distinct from ordinary monsoon river flooding.
All 12 Districts
Click a district on the District Climatology tool or search it on the 10-day forecast page for its own normals — the grid below is the full current list (India's Local Government Directory codes, cross-checked against the latest state reorganisation).