Jharkhand, carved from Bihar in 2000, sits on the mineral-rich, forested Chota Nagpur plateau — climatically and topographically distinct from Bihar's Gangetic plain to its north, and home to one of India's most historically drought-vulnerable districts, Palamu. For live interactive rainfall, wind and satellite maps over Jharkhand, open VayuMet.
Most of the state lies on the Chota Nagpur plateau, an elevated, hilly, heavily forested upland distinct from the flat Gangetic plain. The Damodar valley in the east forms the state's industrial and coal-mining belt, historically prone to significant river flooding before the Damodar Valley Corporation's dam system was built to manage it.
Winter (December-February) is mild to cool, occasionally cold on the higher plateau. Pre-monsoon summer (March-June) is hot across the plateau. The monsoon (June-September) is the dominant rain source and comparatively reliable, since Jharkhand lies along similar Bay of Bengal depression tracks to neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Post-monsoon (October-November) is dry.
Jharkhand's position along common Bay of Bengal depression tracks gives it a somewhat more dependable monsoon than states further from this path.
Occasional light winter rain reaches the north of the state from western disturbances.
Western Jharkhand, including the historically drought-prone Palamu-Garhwa belt, sees the state's most intense pre-monsoon heat.
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 state-wide average across Jharkhand's 24 districts, built from IMD's real 1991-2020 gridded rainfall/temperature normals and 1951-2025 daily archives (not a forecast). The drier western districts and the wetter east can differ from 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 | 28.3 | 7.5 | 25.5 / 11.8 | 29.7 / 9.3 | 29.6·29.4·0.0 |
| Pre-Monsoon (Summer) Mar–May | 111.2 | 22.8 | 35.8 / 21.8 | 38.5 / 15.4 | 29.5·62.2·0.2 |
| Monsoon (SW) Jun–Sep | 1014.0 | 97.4 | 32.4 / 24.7 | 38.2 / 22.9 | 1.5·91.3·29.2 |
| Post-Monsoon Oct–Dec | 92.1 | 13.6 | 27.8 / 15.8 | 31.9 / 9.2 | 51.4·40.6·0.0 |
State figures are a simple average across 24 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.
Structural, western Jharkhand. The Palamu-Garhwa belt in western Jharkhand has long been one of India's most drought- and historically famine-vulnerable regions, predating the state's formation.
Monsoon (Jun-Sep). The Damodar and Subarnarekha basins face monsoon flood risk, historically severe in the Damodar valley before the Damodar Valley Corporation's dam system was built to manage it.
Pre-monsoon (Mar-Jun). The plateau interior, especially the west, sees recurring pre-monsoon heat.
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).