Manipur's geography is unusual even among the hill-and-valley states of the northeast: the relatively flat, populated Imphal valley at its centre actually receives less rain than the hills that surround it on all sides, an inversion of the more familiar coast-versus-interior rainfall pattern seen elsewhere in India. For live interactive rainfall, wind and satellite maps over Manipur, open VayuMet.
The Imphal valley, a relatively flat and low-lying basin, sits at the centre of the state and is home to most of its population, along with Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in northeast India. Hill ranges — part of the broader Indo-Myanmar border system — surround the valley on every side.
The monsoon (roughly May/June-September) is the dominant rainy season. Because the surrounding hills intercept much of the incoming moisture before it reaches the valley floor, Imphal and the central valley receive noticeably less rain than the encircling hill districts. Winter is mild in the valley and cooler in the hills; pre-monsoon brings occasional severe thunderstorms.
Manipur's surrounding hill ranges intercept much of the monsoon moisture before it reaches the Imphal valley, so the hill districts consistently receive more rain than the populated valley floor.
Pre-monsoon convective storms can bring damaging hail and wind to the valley and surrounding hills, affecting agriculture.
The steep hill districts surrounding the valley face landslide and flash flood risk during sustained heavy monsoon rain.
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 Manipur's 16 districts, built from IMD's real 1991-2020 gridded rainfall/temperature normals and 1951-2025 daily archives (not a forecast). The wetter hill districts and the drier Imphal valley diverge 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 | 29.4 | 8.5 | 22.2 / 8.6 | 24.8 / 6.3 | 31.9·27.1·0.0 |
| Pre-Monsoon (Summer) Mar–May | 299.7 | 49.2 | 27.5 / 16.7 | 29.4 / 11.8 | 14.4·73.6·4.0 |
| Monsoon (SW) Jun–Sep | 697.7 | 103.8 | 28.4 / 21.5 | 29.1 / 20.2 | 0.4·90.8·30.8 |
| Post-Monsoon Oct–Dec | 133.2 | 20.6 | 24.6 / 13.2 | 29.1 / 6.4 | 25.6·65.3·1.1 |
State figures are a simple average across 16 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 (May/Jun-Sep). Despite receiving less rain than the surrounding hills, the flat, low-lying Imphal valley and Loktak Lake basin are still prone to flooding during sustained heavy rain, given their poor natural drainage.
Monsoon (May/Jun-Sep). The hill districts surrounding the valley face recurring landslide risk on steep, heavily rained-on terrain.
Pre-monsoon (Mar-May). Pre-monsoon convective storms can cause locally significant hail damage to crops.
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).