Jammu & Kashmir contains two climatically distinct regions: the Kashmir Valley, largely shielded from the summer monsoon by the Pir Panjal range and instead dependent on winter western disturbances for most of its precipitation, and the Jammu division, whose sub-Himalayan foothill climate follows a more typical monsoon-influenced pattern. For live interactive rainfall, wind and satellite maps over Jammu & Kashmir, open VayuMet.
The Kashmir Valley sits at around 1,600 m, encircled by the Pir Panjal range to its south and the Greater Himalaya to its north and east. The Jammu division, to the south, is lower-elevation Shivalik foothill terrain bordering Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Ladakh, the high-altitude trans-Himalayan region further east, is administered as a separate union territory.
In the Kashmir Valley, winter (December-February, including the harsh 40-day 'Chillai Kalan' period) is the wettest and snowiest season, driven by western disturbances rather than the summer monsoon, which the Pir Panjal largely blocks. Spring (March-May) is mild and known for its blossoms; summer (June-August) is pleasant with only marginal monsoon influence. In the Jammu division, the seasonal cycle looks more like the rest of north India, with a hot pre-monsoon summer and a more typical southwest monsoon (June-September).
Unlike most of India, where western disturbances are a minor winter-only contributor, they are the primary source of precipitation for the Kashmir Valley year-round, delivering heavy snowfall in winter and meaningful rain in other seasons.
Chillai Kalan is the traditional Kashmiri name for the harshest 40-day stretch of winter (typically late December to late January), associated with the valley's heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures.
The Jammu division, south of the Pir Panjal, receives a more conventional southwest monsoon similar to neighbouring Himachal Pradesh's lower hills, unlike the largely monsoon-shielded Kashmir Valley.
Heavy winter snowfall on steep high-elevation terrain makes avalanches a significant, recurring hazard in parts of the Kashmir Valley and along the Jammu-Srinagar highway corridor.
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.
The table below is a division-wide average across Jammu & Kashmir's 20 districts (Ladakh is a separate union territory and not included), built from IMD's real 1991-2020 gridded rainfall/temperature normals and 1951-2025 daily archives (not a forecast). The Kashmir Valley's winter-dominated regime and Jammu's more typical monsoon pattern diverge sharply from this combined average — use the district climatology tool linked below for either region's own figures.
| Season | Rainfall (mm) | Rain days | Mean Max / Min (°C) | Typical Hottest / Coldest (°C) | Sky (Sunny·Partly·Overcast days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Jan–Feb | 129.4 | 24.9 | 7.0 / -2.0 | 10.4 / -4.0 | 6.5·50.4·2.1 |
| Pre-Monsoon (Summer) Mar–May | 205.5 | 45.0 | 18.3 / 7.0 | 24.6 / 0.8 | 21.8·68.3·1.9 |
| Monsoon (SW) Jun–Sep | 349.4 | 66.4 | 24.9 / 14.6 | 27.0 / 9.4 | 75.9·46.1·0.0 |
| Post-Monsoon Oct–Dec | 71.7 | 18.6 | 14.2 / 2.5 | 23.3 / -2.8 | 42.4·49.4·0.2 |
State figures are a simple average across 20 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).
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.
Winter. Heavy snowfall on steep high-elevation terrain poses a recurring hazard in parts of the Kashmir Valley and along key highway corridors.
Monsoon / any season. The September 2014 floods, driven by an unusually intense and prolonged western-disturbance-linked rainfall event, caused severe flooding across Srinagar and the Kashmir Valley.
Monsoon (Jammu division). The Jammu division's foothill terrain faces landslide risk during the southwest monsoon, similar to neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.
Winter, especially Chillai Kalan. The Kashmir Valley's harshest winter stretch brings extended cold and heavy snowfall that can disrupt road and air access.
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).