Thimphu climate

Name: Thimphu
Address: BT

Thimphu is warmest in August, with average highs of 21 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -0.6 °C. July is the wettest month (498 mm) and December the driest (65 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Thimphu averages 2,585 mm of rain, 0 days above 25 °C and 37 days below freezing.

Bhutan · 2,320 m elevation · population 98,676 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month August 21 °C
Coldest month January -0.6 °C
Driest month December 65 mm
Wettest month July 498 mm
Least cloud January 50 % cloud
Hottest on record July 27 °C
Coldest on record December -17 °C

What to expectThimphu through the year

Thimphu has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 8.6 °C in January to 21 °C in August, a swing of 14 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 0 days a year reach 25 °C, 37 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 27 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 498 mm against 65 mm in December — 7.7 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	8.6 °C	69 mm	50 %
February	9.8 °C	100 mm	58 %
March	13.5 °C	158 mm	65 %
April	17.0 °C	167 mm	67 %
May	19.3 °C	249 mm	72 %
June	20.9 °C	407 mm	85 %
July	21.2 °C	498 mm	93 %
August	21.2 °C	377 mm	91 %
September	20.3 °C	267 mm	82 %
October	17.3 °C	149 mm	60 %
November	14.0 °C	79 mm	55 %
December	10.7 °C	65 mm	50 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days below 0 °C
January	8.6 °C	-0.6 °C	4.0 °C	18.4 °C	-14.8 °C	14
February	9.8 °C	0.9 °C	5.3 °C	18.4 °C	-7.6 °C	9
March	13.5 °C	3.3 °C	8.2 °C	22.4 °C	-6.5 °C	2
April	17.0 °C	6.2 °C	11.4 °C	23.4 °C	-7.1 °C	0
May	19.3 °C	9.7 °C	14.3 °C	24.5 °C	3.1 °C	0
June	20.9 °C	13.6 °C	16.9 °C	24.9 °C	5.8 °C	0
July	21.2 °C	15.1 °C	17.5 °C	26.7 °C	11.2 °C	0
August	21.2 °C	14.8 °C	17.4 °C	26.2 °C	10.2 °C	0
September	20.3 °C	12.8 °C	16.2 °C	24.5 °C	3.5 °C	0
October	17.3 °C	7.6 °C	12.4 °C	22.4 °C	-1.1 °C	0
November	14.0 °C	4.0 °C	8.8 °C	19.8 °C	-2.9 °C	2
December	10.7 °C	1.2 °C	5.8 °C	19.3 °C	-17.2 °C	9

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	69 mm	17	11 h/day	50 %	76 %	7.1 km/h
February	100 mm	20	11 h/day	58 %	80 %	7.1 km/h
March	158 mm	26	12 h/day	65 %	80 %	7.2 km/h
April	167 mm	26	13 h/day	67 %	81 %	7.0 km/h
May	249 mm	29	14 h/day	72 %	85 %	6.9 km/h
June	407 mm	29	14 h/day	85 %	89 %	6.5 km/h
July	498 mm	31	14 h/day	93 %	91 %	6.1 km/h
August	377 mm	29	13 h/day	91 %	89 %	6.2 km/h
September	267 mm	26	12 h/day	82 %	88 %	6.2 km/h
October	149 mm	23	12 h/day	60 %	84 %	6.4 km/h
November	79 mm	18	11 h/day	55 %	81 %	6.5 km/h
December	65 mm	16	10 h/day	50 %	78 %	6.6 km/h

How Thimphu compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Thimphu	21 °C	-0.6 °C	2,585 mm	0
Jaigaon · India	29 °C	12 °C	3,435 mm	250
Siliguri · India	31 °C	11 °C	3,047 mm	280
Rangpur · Bangladesh	32 °C	12 °C	2,443 mm	314
Saidpur · Bangladesh	32 °C	11 °C	2,361 mm	312

Where Thimphu ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Asia in July	9th of 50	21 °C
The coolest places in Asia in August	10th of 50	21 °C
The coolest places in Asia in June	17th of 50	21 °C
The coolest places in Asia in September	47th of 50	20 °C
The coolest places in Asia in May	50th of 50	19 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Thimphu.

QuestionsCommon questions about Thimphu’s climate

When is the best time to visit Thimphu?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, August sit closest to 20 °C on average, August is the warmest month and December the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Thimphu get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 21 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 27 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -0.6 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 37 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Thimphu?

July, averaging 498 mm over 31 days with rain. The driest month is December with 65 mm. The year as a whole averages 2,585 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Thimphu rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: 27.466°, 89.642° , 2320 m above sea level (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.