India - weather in December

December is the first winter month in the Northern Hemisphere. In India, a large country crossed by the Tropic of Cancer in the center-north, it is generally a dry and sunny month, except in the southeast, which is still quite rainy.

In the mountains at the foot of the Himalayas (see Srinagar), the temperature is low, and at night it normally drops below freezing.
In the north, in the Indo-Gangetic plain, the average temperature is 13 °C (55.5 °F) in the extreme north (see Amritsar), and 15.5 °C (60 °F) in New Delhi. In addition, nights can be cold, and fog can form at night and in the early morning, which can keep the temperature quite low even during the day, especially from mid-December to mid-January. Furthermore, this is a very polluted area, especially in winter.
In the center-south, temperatures are higher, and the daily average is around 20 °C (68 °F) in the Tropic of Cancer, while it exceeds 25 °C (77 °F) in the south, where there is a summery heat even in this month.
In general, January is the coolest month of the year in India, however, in some cities in the center-south (see Bangalore, Hyderabad) the coolest month is December.
Sometimes it can get very hot, in fact the temperature can reach 35 °C (95 °F) on the south-west coast (see Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore, Kochi), especially in the first half of the month.

As for the rains, as mentioned, they are rare everywhere, except in the extreme south (see Kerala and Tamil Nadu), and in particular on the south-eastern coast (see Chennai), where the last rains brought by the north-east (or retreating) monsoon occur.
On the islands too, a bit on those of the south-west (Lakshadweep, see Minicoy), and even more on those of the south-east (Nicobar and Andaman, see Port Blair), rain can still occur.
Instead, on the north-western mountains (see Srinagar), disturbances from the west can pass, bringing rain (and snowfall to the mountains).

December is the last month in which tropical cyclones can form. Generally, cyclones in this month are not intense, however, they can bring heavy rains, moreover, they only occur in the south and on the islands. Very rarely, such as in 1981, 1990 and 2021, they can move to the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, as usually happens until November.

India is located at medium-low latitudes, however, in December the days are quite short in the northern part, where the sun remains above the horizon for about 10 hours on average. December 21st is the winter solstice, i.e. the shortest day of the year, in the Northern Hemisphere.

The sea is warm enough to swim anywhere.


See also: India, the weather in November - January
The climate of India