Chennai, India climate

Aw Tropical savanna (dry winter)

Chennai has a mildly seasonal tropical climate (Tropical savanna (dry winter), Köppen Aw). The hottest month is May with an average daily high near 38°C, while the coldest is January averaging around 21°C at night. Precipitation totals about 1408 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — November alone averages 436 mm while February barely receives 3 mm.

☀️ All year

Very hot

Daytime highs near 38°C most of the year.

About 210 days a year above 32 °C

🌙 Nights

Stays warm

Even the coolest nights stay near 21°C.

🌧️ Rain

Wet

About 1408 mm of rain a year.

Wettest in November

⛅ Sky & trend

Partly cloudy

A roughly even mix of sun and cloud.

+0.3 °C vs 50 years ago

Temperature & precipitation

Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figures

Clear vs cloudy days

Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day counts

Chennai climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	30	32	34	36	38	38	36	35	35	33	31	29
Avg temp (°C)	25	27	29	31	33	32	31	30	30	29	27	25
Avg low (°C)	21	22	24	26	27	27	26	25	25	24	23	21
Precipitation (mm)	20	3	18	20	61	105	99	159	106	238	436	142

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°C)	30	32	34	36	38	38
Avg temp (°C)	25	27	29	31	33	32
Avg low (°C)	21	22	24	26	27	27
Precipitation (mm)	20	3	18	20	61	105

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	36	35	35	33	31	29
Avg temp (°C)	31	30	30	29	27	25
Avg low (°C)	26	25	25	24	23	21
Precipitation (mm)	99	159	106	238	436	142

How often — frequency of weather events

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	2	0.9	0.7	1	2	6	10	12	10	13	14	8
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	1.0	10	25	26	26	25	26	25	23	18	5	0.4

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Days with measurable rain (days)	2	0.9	0.7	1	2	6
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	1.0	10	25	26	26	25

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	10	12	10	13	14	8
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	26	25	23	18	5	0.4

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	41	34	32	41	57	77	83	82	74	68	65	54
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	14	16	18	13	7	1	0.7	0.8	2	5	5	8
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	12	9	10	11	14	9	6	7	9	9	10	13
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	5	3	3	6	10	20	25	23	19	17	15	10
Relative humidity (%)	77	72	66	65	64	65	68	72	77	80	82	80
Wind speed (m/s)	2.8	2.7	3.0	3.5	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.2	2.6	2.5	3.3	3.4

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	41	34	32	41	57	77
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	14	16	18	13	7	1
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	12	9	10	11	14	9
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	5	3	3	6	10	20
Relative humidity (%)	77	72	66	65	64	65
Wind speed (m/s)	2.8	2.7	3.0	3.5	3.7	3.7

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	83	82	74	68	65	54
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	0.7	0.8	2	5	5	8
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	6	7	9	9	10	13
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	25	23	19	17	15	10
Relative humidity (%)	68	72	77	80	82	80
Wind speed (m/s)	3.6	3.2	2.6	2.5	3.3	3.4

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 24 years of daily observations at Madras/minambakkam, a weather station, about 14 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.

How we build these numbers →