Chennai climate

Name: Chennai
Address: IN

Chennai is warmest in May, with average highs of 36 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 21 °C. November is the wettest month (225 mm) and February the driest (6.7 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Chennai averages 982 mm of rain and 364 days above 25 °C.

India · population 4,681,087 · 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 May 36 °C
Coldest month January 21 °C
Driest month February 7 mm
Wettest month November 225 mm
Least cloud March 33 % cloud
Hottest on record May 42 °C
Coldest on record January 15 °C
Warmest sea May 29 °C

What to expectChennai through the year

Chennai has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 28 °C in January to 36 °C in May, a swing of 7.2 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 364 days a year reach 25 °C, 242 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 42 °C, in May.

Rain is strongly seasonal. November averages 225 mm against 7 mm in February — 33 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Chennai is warmest in May at 29 °C and coldest in January at 27 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	27.9 °C	15 mm	45 %
February	30.0 °C	7 mm	35 %
March	32.5 °C	9 mm	33 %
April	34.4 °C	15 mm	40 %
May	36.4 °C	38 mm	53 %
June	35.5 °C	65 mm	83 %
July	34.2 °C	70 mm	90 %
August	33.3 °C	98 mm	86 %
September	32.6 °C	109 mm	76 %
October	30.6 °C	215 mm	71 %
November	28.5 °C	225 mm	66 %
December	27.4 °C	116 mm	58 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	27.9 °C	20.8 °C	24.2 °C	30.8 °C	15.0 °C	31	0
February	30.0 °C	21.2 °C	25.3 °C	34.2 °C	16.3 °C	28	12
March	32.5 °C	23.0 °C	27.3 °C	37.4 °C	17.4 °C	31	30
April	34.4 °C	26.1 °C	29.6 °C	39.7 °C	20.8 °C	30	30
May	36.4 °C	28.0 °C	31.4 °C	42.0 °C	24.6 °C	31	31
June	35.5 °C	27.7 °C	30.9 °C	40.0 °C	24.0 °C	30	29
July	34.2 °C	26.9 °C	30.0 °C	38.8 °C	24.0 °C	31	30
August	33.3 °C	26.3 °C	29.2 °C	37.6 °C	24.1 °C	31	30
September	32.6 °C	25.8 °C	28.7 °C	36.6 °C	23.8 °C	30	28
October	30.6 °C	24.5 °C	27.2 °C	36.0 °C	19.9 °C	31	19
November	28.5 °C	23.3 °C	25.7 °C	32.8 °C	17.5 °C	30	3
December	27.4 °C	22.0 °C	24.6 °C	30.2 °C	15.4 °C	30	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	15 mm	3	11 h/day	45 %	75 %	17 km/h	26.5 °C
February	7 mm	2	12 h/day	35 %	74 %	16 km/h	27.2 °C
March	9 mm	1	12 h/day	33 %	74 %	18 km/h	28.4 °C
April	15 mm	3	12 h/day	40 %	74 %	20 km/h	29.3 °C
May	38 mm	3	13 h/day	53 %	68 %	21 km/h	29.4 °C
June	65 mm	10	13 h/day	83 %	63 %	21 km/h	29.1 °C
July	70 mm	13	13 h/day	90 %	65 %	20 km/h	28.7 °C
August	98 mm	15	13 h/day	86 %	69 %	19 km/h	28.6 °C
September	109 mm	17	12 h/day	76 %	75 %	17 km/h	28.9 °C
October	215 mm	19	12 h/day	71 %	81 %	15 km/h	29.3 °C
November	225 mm	17	12 h/day	66 %	82 %	18 km/h	28.3 °C
December	116 mm	9	11 h/day	58 %	77 %	19 km/h	27.0 °C

Where Chennai ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Asia in January	7th of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in the world in January	9th of 50	100/100
Best beach destinations in Asia in February	41st of 50	96/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Chennai’s climate

When is the best time to visit Chennai?

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

How hot does Chennai get?

In May, the warmest month, daily highs average 36 °C. About 242 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 42 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 21 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Chennai?

November, averaging 225 mm over 17 days with rain. The driest month is February with 7 mm. The year as a whole averages 982 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 Chennai 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: 13.088°, 80.278° (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.