Madhya Pradesh sits at the geographic heart of India, landlocked and continental, its rainfall governed largely by the day-to-day position of the monsoon trough that runs close to or over the state through the season — making it something of a bellwether for the health of the all-India monsoon. For live interactive rainfall, wind and satellite maps over Madhya Pradesh, open VayuMet.
The Malwa plateau covers much of the north and west, while the Vindhya and Satpura ranges run broadly east-west across the state, separated by the valley of the west-flowing Narmada — unusual among major Indian rivers, most of which flow east into the Bay of Bengal. The Bundelkhand upland in the north and the Maikal hills toward Chhattisgarh in the east complete the state's varied but entirely landlocked terrain.
Winter (December-February) is mild to cool, cooler and occasionally frosty in the north. Pre-monsoon summer (March-June) is hot, most intense in the northern plains bordering Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand. The monsoon (June-September) is the dominant season and generally reliable, since MP lies close to the monsoon trough's climatological position and receives systems from the Bay of Bengal. Post-monsoon (October-November) is dry and mild.
The monsoon trough's normal axis runs close to Madhya Pradesh, so small north-south shifts in its position translate directly into 'active' or 'break' rainfall spells for the state — a sensitivity that makes MP's monsoon performance a useful indicator for the wider all-India season.
Bay of Bengal-origin depressions and lows moving west-northwest are the state's main heavy-rain drivers, particularly for the east and central districts.
Western disturbances bring light winter rain to northern MP and can be followed by cold-wave conditions.
Northern districts bordering UP's Bundelkhand region see the state's most severe 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 Madhya Pradesh's 52 districts, built from IMD's real 1991-2020 gridded rainfall/temperature normals and 1951-2025 daily archives (not a forecast). Individual districts, especially in Bundelkhand versus the wetter east, can differ meaningfully 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 | 22.1 | 4.8 | 26.3 / 11.6 | 30.6 / 9.2 | 16.9·42.1·0.0 |
| Pre-Monsoon (Summer) Mar–May | 33.0 | 7.2 | 37.7 / 22.2 | 41.7 / 15.1 | 19.5·71.2·1.2 |
| Monsoon (SW) Jun–Sep | 907.9 | 80.2 | 32.6 / 24.4 | 41.0 / 22.1 | 1.9·79.6·40.5 |
| Post-Monsoon Oct–Dec | 45.7 | 7.6 | 29.4 / 15.2 | 33.6 / 9.5 | 38.9·53.0·0.1 |
State figures are a simple average across 52 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.
Monsoon (Jun-Sep). The Narmada, Betwa and Chambal basins are prone to flooding when a monsoon depression stalls or a very active trough spell drops sustained heavy rain.
Monsoon-shortfall years. The Bundelkhand region of northern MP is chronically drought-vulnerable, sharing the same structural water stress as its Uttar Pradesh counterpart across the border.
Pre-monsoon (Mar-Jun). Northern and central MP see recurring heatwave spells ahead of monsoon onset.
Winter (Dec-Jan). Northern districts occasionally see sharp cold-wave conditions following a western disturbance's passage.
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).