Climate and average weather in Madurai

In Madurai, the summers are muggy, sweltering, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are hot and partly cloudy.

Best: late November to early February

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Madurai typically varies from 21°C to 38°C, and is rarely below 18°C or above 41°C. May is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Madurai for warm-weather activities is from late November to early February.

Hottest
May
38°
Coldest
Dec
22°
Wettest
Oct
168 mm
Driest
Jan
12 mm
Rain / yr
816 mm
124 wet days
Daylight
11.4–12.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
139 m
9.9°N
Clearest
Mar
37% cloud

Madurai is city of Tamil Nadu in southern India.

Air quality
High
PM2.5 34.7 µg/m³ · 2018
Density
9,905/km²
people per km²

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Madurai weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late November to early February.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Madurai, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.6 months, from March 11 to June 28, with daily high temperatures above 36°C. The hottest month of the year in Madurai is May, with an average high of 38°C and low of 27°C.

The cool season lasts 2.8 months, from October 31 to January 22, with daily high temperatures below 31°C. The coldest month of the year in Madurai is December, with an average low of 22°C and high of 30°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in March.

15°20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3121
Feb3422
Mar3724
Apr3826
May3827
Jun3726
Jul3626
Aug3626
Sep3625
Oct3324
Nov3023
Dec3022

How hot and cold Madurai really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Madurai feels like about 43°C (around May 8). About 315 days a year carry some heat stress, and 148 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in May.

20°25°30°35°40°45°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan32312121
Feb35342222
Mar39372424
Apr42382626
May43382727
Jun40372626
Jul39362626
Aug39362526
Sep39362525
Oct37332424
Nov33302323
Dec31302222

Average hourly temperature in Madurai

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on May afternoons, near 38°C, and coldest before dawn in December, near 22°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Madurai weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan31° / 21°122.611.55.3
Feb34° / 22°152.711.73.8
Mar37° / 24°244.211.92.0
Apr38° / 26°488.712.21.1
May38° / 27°6312.812.40.9
Jun37° / 26°4610.112.61.6
Jul36° / 26°5211.712.51.9
Aug36° / 26°7013.212.31.9
Sep36° / 25°8213.612.11.9
Oct33° / 24°16818.911.82.6
Nov30° / 23°1601711.53.9
Dec30° / 22°768.111.45.3

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Madurai gets about 816 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.2 months, from around Jul 3 to Dec 6, peaking in October at about 67% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 20.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 168 mm over about 19 wet days; January is the driest, with 12 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetOct 29 · 67%Jan 20 · 8%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan103
Feb103
Mar144
Apr309
May3913
Jun3510
Jul3712
Aug4213
Sep4514
Oct6219
Nov5517
Dec268

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Madurai collects about 816 mm of rain across 124 wet days — roughly 68 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 168 mm, while January is the driest at just 12 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 50% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12152448634652708216816076
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan123
Feb153
Mar244
Apr489
May6313
Jun4610
Jul5212
Aug7013
Sep8214
Oct16819
Nov16017
Dec768

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Madurai, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around December 3 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around May 19. The clearest month is March, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 76% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 20 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around December 2. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 92% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 2 · 79%Jul 15 · 7%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5842
Feb7327
Mar7624
Apr6040
May4060
Jun1585
Jul892
Aug1189
Sep2278
Oct2575
Nov3268
Dec4357

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 5, brings about 12 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.56:426:11
Feb11.76:426:22
Mar11.96:296:25
Apr12.26:116:24
May12.46:006:27
Jun12.66:006:35
Jul12.56:076:39
Aug12.36:126:32
Sep12.16:106:13
Oct11.86:095:56
Nov11.56:175:49
Dec11.46:315:56

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Madurai averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.6 months, from around Dec 24 to May 12. The sunniest month is February, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is July, down near 1 sunny days — about 97% fewer than the February peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantFeb 2619 daysJul 150 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan12Mixed
Feb15Bright
Mar19Bright
Apr12Mixed
May7Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct3Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
Dec7Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Madurai, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 8.9 months, from around April 5 to December 31. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around January 1 to April 4, and March is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 15% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 1 · 22%Apr 20 · 0%oppressivemuggyhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan0114039100
Feb3173336110
Mar4102739200
Apr01539531
May00344504
Jun00362341
Jul00367300
Aug00557372
Sep001144432
Oct00421713
Nov00523701
Dec032241330

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Madurai is typically calm, near 6 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.6 months, from around Nov 20 to Mar 9. The windiest month is December, averaging about 8 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 6 to Nov 19, with October the calmest month at about 5 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeDec 23 · 8 km/hOct 17 · 4 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan8calm
Feb7calm
Mar6calm
Apr5calm
May6calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov6calm
Dec8calm

Hazard calendar for Madurai

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Madurai's rainy season runs September–December, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Madurai

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Madurai throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late January, Madurai is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Madurai for general outdoor tourist activities is from late November to early February, with a peak score in the first week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 3 · 5.6

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan5.3fair
Feb3.8fair
Mar2.0poor
Apr1.1poor
May0.9poor
Jun1.5poor
Jul1.9poor
Aug1.9poor
Sep1.9poor
Oct2.6poor
Nov3.9fair
Dec5.2fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Madurai for hot-weather activities is from late November to early March, with a peak score in the second week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 14 · 7.8

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Madurai, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around May (highs near 38°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near 30°C), pack light clothes and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In May, Madurai sees daytime highs around 38°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 13 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Madurai by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Madurai peaks around August 16 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 8 (very high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highAug 16UV 13Dec 21UV 8
UV index (midday)Level
Jan9Very high
Feb12Extreme
Mar12Extreme
Apr12Extreme
May10Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec8Very high

Average hourly UV index in Madurai

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan74.5
Feb7.55.5
Mar86
Apr86
May85.5
Jun86
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.56
Nov7.55
Dec6.54

Air quality in Madurai by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Madurai is worst in November — around 47 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.1× the cleanest month (July, 23 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Madurai's WHO annual average of 34.7 µg/m³.

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModeratePoorModeratePoorNov 2046 µg/m³Jul 1423 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan41Poor
Feb35Moderate
Mar34Moderate
Apr35Moderate
May37Poor
Jun24Moderate
Jul23Moderate
Aug25Moderate
Sep28Moderate
Oct43Poor
Nov47Poor
Dec46Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Madurai is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Madurai banks about 7,085 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around May.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan492
Feb503
Mar637
Apr659
May696
Jun643
Jul642
Aug636
Sep614
Oct579
Nov500
Dec484

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Madurai receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.1 and 6.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around Jan 23 to Jun 8. The brightest month is March, averaging about 6.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is November, down near 4.2 kWh/m² — roughly 36% less than the March peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 226.7 kWhNov 254.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan5.2Bright
Feb6.0Intense
Mar6.6Intense
Apr6.3Intense
May6.0Intense
Jun5.2Bright
Jul5.0Bright
Aug5.2Bright
Sep5.4Bright
Oct4.8Bright
Nov4.1Bright
Dec4.3Bright

Where is Madurai?

Madurai sits at 9.9°N, 78.1°E, 139 m above sea level, in India. The nearest listed city is Munnar, 117 km away.

AlappuzhaKochiJaffnaThaikattusseryMannarValvedditturaiPoint Pedro

What Madurai looks like

Topography around Madurai

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Madurai.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Madurai has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 25 m around an average of 137 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 283 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,338 m.

The land around Madurai is covered by artificial surfaces (75%) within 3 km, cropland (37%) and trees (26%) within 16 km, and cropland (41%) and trees (30%) within 80 km.

3 km
25 m
16 km
283 m
80 km
2,338 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Munnar 117 km · Alappuzha 202 km · Kochi 204 km · Jaffna 209 km · Thaikattussery 214 km · Mannar 219 km · Valvedditturai 225 km · Point Pedro 232 km

India travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / D / M
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 23% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$2,702
2025
Happiness
4.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
76%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2.8
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
15.6
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 484
Religion
Hindu 80%Muslim 14%Christian 2%other and unspecified 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Madurai (9.919°, 78.1195°, elevation 139 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).