Climate - Kolkata (India)

In Kolkata (or Calcutta), the capital of the state of West Bengal, the climate is tropical.
There is a sunny and pleasantly warm winter from December to February, when, however, the night temperature can sometimes drop below 10 °C (50 °F), so it's better to bring a sweater and a light jacket. Then, there is a very hot period from March to May, before the monsoon, when the temperature can reach or exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in the worst moments, and a rainy season from June to mid-October, characterized by stifling weather, widespread cloudiness and frequent rains. From mid-October to mid-November, before the winter, there is a period lasting one month with good weather and high temperatures, around 30 °C (86 °F).
Here are the average temperatures.

The monsoon season goes roughly from June 5 to October 15, but already in May (and more rarely in April), the first showers in the afternoon can occur. Total annual rainfall is 1,600 millimeters (63 inches). From November to April, the sun shines and it almost never rains.
Here is the average precipitation.

The sun in Calcutta often shines in the dry season, while the sky is often cloudy in the rainy season. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

From mid-April to early December, Calcutta can be affected by cyclones, tropical storms coming from the Bay of Bengal, with a higher chance at the beginning and at the end of the period, namely from April to June and in October-November. The Bengal region is particularly prone to flooding because of the conformation of the territory (we are in the area of the huge Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, and the river of the city, the Hooghly, is a branch of the Ganges).



South of Calcutta, the sea is warm enough for swimming throughout the year, although it drops to 23/24 °C (73/75 °F) in January and February. Here are the average sea temperatures.

Best Time

The best time to visit Kolkata is from mid-December to February. In November and in the first half of December, the rains have usually ceased, but every now and then a cyclone can still affect the area. In March, it starts to get very hot.