Kota rainfall: how much rain falls, and when

Kota rainfall is a story of extremes in timing rather than amount. The city receives about 816 mm of rain in an average year, more than most of Rajasthan, but nearly all of it falls in four monsoon months. For the other eight months, a rainy day is an event. This guide sets out the official averages, shows how the rain is distributed, and explains why any single year can look very different from the average.

Kota’s rainfall at a glance

IMD 1991-2020 normals for Kota Airport:

Month	Rainfall (mm)	Rainy days	Share of year
January	5.7	0.7	under 1 percent
February	8.2	0.7	1 percent
March	2.7	0.6	under 1 percent
April	8.4	0.8	1 percent
May	9.7	1.0	1 percent
June	80.3	4.7	10 percent
July	296.7	11.6	36 percent
August	269.6	11.2	33 percent
September	108.7	5.8	13 percent
October	18.9	0.9	2 percent
November	3.8	0.4	under 1 percent
December	3.6	0.3	under 1 percent
Year	816.2	38.6

A rainy day in IMD records is a day with at least 2.5 mm of rain. Percentages are rounded.

Where the rain comes from

Almost all of Kota’s rain comes from the southwest monsoon, which typically arrives in the last part of June and withdraws in late September or early October. Moist air from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, carried by low-pressure systems moving across central India, produces the heaviest falls. Kota’s position in south-east Rajasthan, closer to these systems than the desert west of the state, is why it is much wetter than places like Jodhpur or Bikaner.

Outside the monsoon, the small amounts of winter rain come from western disturbances, and the few showers of April and May come from pre-monsoon thunderstorms. Our Kota monsoon guide covers the wet season in detail.

How much the monsoon varies

The normal is an average of 30 years, and individual years scatter widely around it. In Rajasthan, it is common for a district to finish the monsoon well above or well below normal. A few heavy spells can deliver a large share of a season’s rain in a handful of days, while a long break in July or August can leave a month far short of its average.

What this means in practice:

• Do not judge the season by one week. A dry spell in July is normal; so is a downpour that drops several days of normal rain in one night.
• Upstream rain matters. For flooding along the Chambal, rain over the catchment in Madhya Pradesh and the upper Chambal matters as much as rain in Kota itself. See Kota Barrage and Chambal flood season.
• Local totals differ. Rain gauges a few kilometres apart can record very different totals from the same storm.

Rainy days and wet days by month

IMD’s Climatological Tables 1991-2020 for Kota Airport give two counts of wet days: rainy days (2.5 mm or more) and days with any measurable rain (0.3 mm or more).

Month	Normal rainfall	Rainy days (2.5 mm+)	Days with rain (0.3 mm+)
June	80.3 mm	4.7	6.7
July	296.7 mm	11.6	15.3
August	269.6 mm	11.2	15.4
September	108.7 mm	5.8	8.1
October	18.9 mm	0.9	1.9
Year	816.2 mm	38.6	55.6

So in July and August it rains on about half the days, but outside June to September measurable rain is rare. Each month has its own guide: June, July, August, September and October.

Where to find this year’s rainfall

• IMD district rainfall statistics: during the monsoon, IMD publishes rainfall for every district as a departure from normal (for example “excess”, “normal”, “deficient”). This is the standard way to see how Kota district’s season is going.
• Meteorological Centre Jaipur: daily rainfall summaries for stations across Rajasthan, including Kota.
• Water Resources Department, Rajasthan: reservoir levels and dam information, which show how the season is affecting water supply and the Chambal system.

How heavy is “heavy” rain?

IMD describes daily rain at a station with fixed categories: light (2.5 to 15.5 mm), moderate (15.6 to 64.4 mm), heavy (64.5 to 115.5 mm), very heavy (115.6 to 204.4 mm) and extremely heavy (204.5 mm or more in 24 hours). Set against Kota’s normals, the scale becomes clearer. A single heavy rain day can bring as much rain as a whole normal June (80.3 mm). A very heavy day can deliver up to about two-thirds of an average July. An extremely heavy day brings around a quarter of the whole normal year. Our IMD rainfall categories guide explains these bands and the seasonal labels “deficient” and “excess” in detail.

Kota rainfall compared with Jaipur

Kota is clearly the wetter of the two cities. Its normal annual rainfall at Kota Airport is 816.2 mm, against 600.3 mm at Jaipur Airport, and almost all of the difference comes in July, August and September. Kota also averages more rainy days, 38.6 a year against 34.3. See Kota vs Jaipur weather for the full comparison.

What the rainfall means for daily life

• Water supply: Kota draws its water from the Chambal, which is regulated by the dams upstream. A good monsoon over the catchment matters more for the city’s supply than rain on Kota itself.
• Farming: the Hadoti region’s kharif crops, such as soybean, depend on the monsoon; rabi crops in winter rely on canal irrigation from the Chambal system.
• Roads and travel: heavy showers in July and August cause waterlogging in low parts of the city. See Kota weather warnings.
• Travel planning: if you want dry weather, October to May is almost rain-free; see best time to visit Kota.

Reading rain forecasts in Kota

A forecast that says “rain likely” in July means something different from the same words in March. In the monsoon, rain on a given day is normal and the useful questions are how heavy and for how long; look for IMD’s “heavy” or “very heavy” wording and the district warning colour. Outside the monsoon, any rain in the forecast is unusual and usually comes as a short thunderstorm or a passing shower from a western disturbance. See the Kota weather forecast guide for where to read these forecasts.

For temperatures alongside rainfall, see Kota weather by month.