Best Time to Visit Tamil Nadu: Month by Month

Most of India gets its rain from the south-west monsoon between June and September. Tamil Nadu is different: the India Meteorological Department (IMD) calls October to December, the north-east monsoon, the chief rainy season of the Tamil Nadu subdivision, bringing 48 per cent of its annual rain, and those months are also the main cyclone season. The figures below are IMD's averages for 1991–2020.

• January to March: dry and warm. Chennai averages 16, 6 and 2 mm of rain, and the plains see daytime highs of about 30°C in January rising to about 36°C inland by March.
• April to June: the hot season, with average highs of 37 to 38°C at Madurai and Tiruchirappalli, and the months the state's tourism department recommends for the hill stations.
• July to September: warm and humid, with thunderstorms. Chennai gets 100 to 146 mm a month, much less than in its monsoon, and Rameswaram's island station at Pamban barely 6 mm in June or July.
• October to December: the north-east monsoon. Normal onset over coastal Tamil Nadu is around 20 October, and Chennai averages 300 mm in October, 374 mm in November and 182 mm in December.

January

Dry and pleasant on the plains: Chennai averages 16 mm of rain with highs near 30°C, Madurai 10 mm. Pongal, the harvest festival, is usually celebrated between 13 and 16 January, and the state tourism department notes that Thai Pongal coincides with Makar Sankranti, which our Makar Sankranti guide covers. Chennai's music and dance season runs until mid-January, and Madurai's float festival on the Teppakulam tank falls in January or February. In Kodaikanal nights average about 9°C, so pack a warm layer.

February

The driest month inland: Madurai averages 4 mm of rain and Chennai under 6 mm, with highs of 31 to 34°C. Natyanjali, when dancers perform at temples as an offering, falls around Maha Shivaratri in the Tamil month of Maasi (February to March), at Chidambaram, Chennai, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam and other towns. It is a good month for the whole temple route from Chennai to Kanyakumari.

March

Chennai's driest month, with about 2 mm of rain, but the heat is building: highs average 33°C in Chennai and 36°C at Madurai and Tiruchirappalli. Start sightseeing early and keep the middle of the day for indoor sights. The tourism department's season for Ooty begins this month and runs to June.

April

Hot inland, with highs near 38°C at Madurai, where the first thunderstorms bring about 67 mm of rain. Madurai's Chithirai festival, re-enacting the wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar and ending at the Kallazhagar temple in the Alagar Hills, falls in the Tamil month of Chithirai, in April or May. Kodaikanal's season begins (April to June, says the tourism department), but its April rain averages 123 mm over about eight days.

May

The hottest month on the plains: average highs of 37°C in Chennai and 38°C at Madurai and Tiruchirappalli. This is hill-station weather: Kodaikanal's days average about 21°C and Coonoor's, on the Nilgiri railway below Ooty, about 25°C, though both get frequent afternoon storms. Yercaud holds its summer festival in May. Read our Ooty travel guide and Kodaikanal travel guide before you book.

June

Still hot in Chennai, with highs averaging 37°C and 59 mm of rain. The far south changes: Kanyakumari's rain rises to about 74 mm over six days, while Rameswaram's island gets only about 7 mm. The hill season winds down as the rains reach the Western Ghats.

July

Warm and humid, with thunderstorms rather than steady rain: Chennai averages about 102 mm and highs of 36°C, Madurai 46 mm. Rameswaram is at its driest, about 6 mm in the month, but the sea can be rough; see our Rameswaram travel guide for the crossing.

August

Chennai's rain rises to about 133 mm and Madurai's to 93 mm, mostly in evening storms. The Meenakshi temple's Avani Moolam festival is held in August or September. Days are still hot, about 35°C in Chennai and 37°C at Madurai.

September

The wettest month before the monsoon: about 146 mm in Chennai and 107 mm at Madurai. Navarathri, held in September or October, draws large crowds to the Meenakshi temple, and Kodaikanal, at about 200 mm, is turning wet.

October

The north-east monsoon usually sets in over coastal Tamil Nadu around 20 October. It is Madurai's wettest month, at about 181 mm, and Chennai averages 300 mm over ten or eleven rainy days. Kodaikanal's rain peaks at about 270 mm. Early October can still work for the temple towns; plan indoor time for wet afternoons.

November

The wettest month on most of the coast: about 374 mm in Chennai, 307 mm at Pamban (Rameswaram), 192 mm at Kanyakumari and 191 mm at Tiruchirappalli, with 373 mm at Coonoor in the Nilgiris. Cyclones are possible. Karthigai Deepam, when a great lamp is lit on the hill at Tiruvannamalai, falls in the Tamil month of Karthigai (November to December).

December

Rain eases inland, where Madurai averages 52 mm, but Chennai still gets about 182 mm and Pamban 187 mm, and IMD notes that Bay of Bengal cyclones strike the Tamil Nadu coast most often in December. Chennai's music and dance season of the month of Margazhi begins in mid-December, and the Indian Dance Festival at Mahabalipuram opens late in the month; see our Mahabalipuram travel guide.