Climate and average weather in Ilām

In Ilām, the summers are humid, warm, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: mid October to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Ilām typically varies from 5°C to 25°C, and is rarely below 2°C or above 27°C. June is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Ilām for warm-weather activities is from mid October to late December.

Hottest
Jun
25°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Jul
825 mm
Driest
Dec
15 mm
Rain / yr
3126 mm
233 wet days
Daylight
10.3–13.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,218 m
26.9°N
Clearest
Dec
38% cloud

Ilām 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 mid October to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 6.7 months, from April 2 to October 21, with daily high temperatures above 23°C. The hottest month of the year in Ilām is June, with an average high of 25°C and low of 19°C.

The cool season lasts 1.9 months, from December 14 to February 9, with daily high temperatures below 17°C. The coldest month of the year in Ilām is January, with an average low of 5°C and high of 15°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in March.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan155
Feb177
Mar2110
Apr2413
May2516
Jun2519
Jul2420
Aug2519
Sep2418
Oct2314
Nov2010
Dec176

Average hourly temperature in Ilām

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 June afternoons, near 25°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Ilām 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
Jan15° / 296.510.55.2
Feb17° / 5611.2115.4
Mar21° / 10°1001711.85.6
Apr24° / 13°16321.812.65.1
May25° / 16°28828.513.34.1
Jun25° / 19°52629.513.73.6
Jul24° / 20°82530.913.53.4
Aug25° / 19°56630.6133.5
Sep24° / 18°39628.312.23.9
Oct23° / 14°1351811.45.8
Nov20° / 10°277.110.77.0
Dec17° / 153.410.36.5

Chance of rain

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

Ilām gets about 3126 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.4 months, from around Apr 3 to Oct 13, peaking in June at about 100% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Dec 7.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 825 mm over about 31 wet days; December is the driest, with 15 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 30 · 100%Dec 7 · 10%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan207
Feb4011
Mar5517
Apr7322
May9229
Jun9830
Jul10031
Aug9931
Sep9328
Oct5918
Nov247
Dec123

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Ilām collects about 3126 mm of rain across 233 wet days — roughly 260 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 825 mm, while December is the driest at just 15 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 61% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400450500550600650700750800850900950JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec29561001632885268255663961352715
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan297
Feb5611
Mar10017
Apr16322
May28829
Jun52630
Jul82531
Aug56631
Sep39628
Oct13518
Nov277
Dec153

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Ilām, 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 October 3 and lasts for 6.9 months, ending around April 30. The clearest month is November, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 75% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 1 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around October 2. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 99% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNov 2 · 80%Aug 2 · 1%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6733
Feb6139
Mar6337
Apr5347
May3664
Jun1090
Jul199
Aug397
Sep2080
Oct6634
Nov7525
Dec7426

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 10, brings about 13 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.56:485:17
Feb11.06:365:39
Mar11.86:095:57
Apr12.65:346:13
May13.35:106:29
Jun13.75:036:44
Jul13.55:136:45
Aug13.05:296:26
Sep12.25:435:52
Oct11.45:585:19
Nov10.76:194:58
Dec10.36:404:59

Sunny days

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

Ilām averages about 8 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 18 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.5 months, from around Oct 7 to Apr 21. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is June, down near 1 sunny days — about 95% fewer than the December peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightDec 2818 daysJun 280 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May4Gloomy
Jun1Gloomy
Jul0Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct12Mixed
Nov16Bright
Dec17Bright

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 Ilām, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around May 2 to October 16. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 17 to May 1, and February is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 14 · 100%Jun 12 · 0%comfortablemuggydryhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb982000
Mar8613200
Apr42391710
May41951260
Jun0012853
Jul000955
Aug001945
Sep0122770
Oct163538110
Nov8217100
Dec1000000

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.

Wind in Ilām is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmMar 16 · 4 km/hAug 27 · 3 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar4calm
Apr4calm
May4calm
Jun3calm
Jul3calm
Aug3calm
Sep3calm
Oct3calm
Nov3calm
Dec3calm

Hazard calendar for Ilām

In seasonPeak

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

Ilām's monsoon runs June–September, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Ilām

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late October, Ilām is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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 Ilām for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid October to late December, with a peak score in the last week of November.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 29 · 7.2

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
Feb5.4fair
Mar5.6good
Apr5.1fair
May4.1fair
Jun3.6fair
Jul3.4poor
Aug3.5poor
Sep3.9fair
Oct5.8good
Nov7.0good
Dec6.5good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Ilām for hot-weather activities run from late March to early May and again from late September to mid November, with a peak score in the last week of October.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 25 · 4.6

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 Ilām, 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 June (highs near 25°C), the essentials are light clothes and rain gear. In the cold season around January (highs near 15°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In June, Ilām sees daytime highs around 25°C and nights near 19°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: light clothes. About 30 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Ilām 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 Ilām peaks around July 18 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 4 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highExtremeModerateJul 18UV 12Jan 1UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar9Very high
Apr8Very high
May9Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul13Extreme
Aug10Extreme
Sep11Extreme
Oct6High
Nov4Moderate
Dec4Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Ilām

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 July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 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)
Jan40
Feb4.50
Mar74
Apr74
May85
Jun85.5
Jul96.5
Aug85.5
Sep7.55.5
Oct5.50.5
Nov40
Dec40

Air quality in Ilām 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 Ilām is worst in January — around 111 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 4.6× the cleanest month (July, 24 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0306090120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecUnhealthyPoorModeratePoorUnhealthyJan 18111 µg/m³Jul 1925 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan111Unhealthy
Feb107Unhealthy
Mar92Unhealthy
Apr74Unhealthy
May52Poor
Jun37Poor
Jul24Moderate
Aug31Moderate
Sep40Poor
Oct59Unhealthy
Nov81Unhealthy
Dec104Unhealthy
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Ilām 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. Ilām banks about 2,686 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan4
Feb57
Mar165
Apr249
May320
Jun355
Jul373
Aug374
Sep336
Oct263
Nov143
Dec47

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.

Ilām receives about 4.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.2 and 5.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 3.8 months, from around Feb 19 to Jun 15. The brightest month is April, averaging about 5.6 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is July, down near 3.4 kWh/m² — roughly 41% less than the April peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 155.7 kWhJul 83.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.4Moderate
Feb4.0Bright
Mar5.1Bright
Apr5.7Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun4.2Bright
Jul3.3Moderate
Aug3.6Moderate
Sep3.8Moderate
Oct4.3Bright
Nov3.7Moderate
Dec3.3Moderate

Where is Ilām?

Ilām sits at 26.9°N, 87.9°E, 1,218 m above sea level, in Nepal. The nearest listed city is Darjeeling, 36 km away.

DhankutāDharānĪṭahari̇̄BiratnagarInaruwaKhā̃dbāri̇̄

Topography around Ilām

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ilām has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 966 m around an average of 897 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,582 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 7,186 m.

The land around Ilām is covered by trees (88%) within 3 km, trees (92%) within 16 km, and trees (66%) and cropland (25%) within 80 km.

3 km
966 m
16 km
2,582 m
80 km
7,186 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewatermoss and lichen
Nearby: Darjeeling 36 km · Bhadrapur 44 km · Dhankutā 60 km · Dharān 65 km · Īṭahari̇̄ 70 km · Biratnagar 83 km · Inaruwa 84 km · Khā̃dbāri̇̄ 88 km

Nepal travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / D / M
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 24% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$1,536
2025
Happiness
5.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
16%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2.1
per 100k, 2020
Road deaths
16.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 514
Religion
Hindu 81%Buddhist 8%Muslim 5%Kirat 3%

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 Ilām (26.9094°, 87.9282°, elevation 1,218 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).