Kota weather in December: what the first winter month brings

Kota weather in December marks the real start of winter. The days stay sunny and pleasant, but the mornings turn properly cold for the first time, and by the second half of the month the first foggy dawns and cold spells appear. Rain is almost absent. For visitors it is one of the most comfortable months of the year; for residents and students it is the month when warm bedding stops being optional. This guide explains what a normal December looks like, using IMD’s 1991-2020 normals for Kota Airport.

These are averages, not a forecast. For the next few days, use our guide to the live Kota weather forecast.

December at a glance: IMD normals

Measure (Kota Airport)	December	November	January
Mean daily maximum	25.7 C	30.1 C	23.2 C
Mean daily minimum	12.6 C	16.9 C	11.2 C
Daily mean	18.7 C	23.7 C	17.3 C
Rainfall	3.6 mm	3.8 mm	5.7 mm
Rainy days (2.5 mm or more)	0.3	0.4	0.7
Evening relative humidity (17:30 IST)	37%	31%	40%
Record high	33.9 C	38.0 C	33.9 C
Record low	2.6 C	7.1 C	1.7 C

Source: IMD climatological normals 1991-2020 for Kota Airport (extremes 1961-2020), daily means from the Tokyo Climate Center, as reproduced in the Kota climate table on Wikipedia.

December is close to January in feel. The average afternoon is only 2.5 C warmer and the average morning just over 1 C warmer. The biggest change is from November: December mornings are more than 4 C colder.

The daily swing: dress for two climates

The most important fact about a Kota December is the daily range. On an average day the temperature climbs about 13 C between dawn and mid-afternoon. A 7 am walk can call for a jacket and scarf, and by 2 pm a cotton shirt in the sun is enough. Indoors, old buildings with thick walls and stone floors stay cold all day, so many people feel colder inside than outside in the afternoon.

The practical answer is layers: a thermal or T-shirt, a shirt or kurta, and a sweater or jacket you can take off. One heavy coat on its own is less useful than three thin layers.

Cold spells and cold waves

After a western disturbance passes across north India, skies clear and cold northerly winds follow. That is when Kota’s mornings drop well below the December average, sometimes into low single figures for a few days. The coldest December reading on record at the airport is 2.6 C.

IMD can declare a cold wave for a district when minimum temperatures fall far enough below normal, and it issues colour-coded warnings for cold waves just as it does for heat. Our Kota winter weather guide explains the cold-wave criteria, and Kota weather warnings shows where to find official alerts. In a cold spell:

• Keep elderly relatives and infants warm at night, especially in unheated rooms.
• Never use charcoal or open fires in a closed room; the fumes can kill.
• Check on anyone who sleeps outdoors or works night shifts.

Fog in late December

Fog is mainly a late-December and January feature. Over the Chambal, in low-lying parts of the city and along highways, dense patches can form around dawn and lift by late morning. Kota usually gets less persistent fog than the plains of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, but that northern fog affects Kota travellers anyway: many long-distance trains on the Delhi to Mumbai main line run late in foggy spells.

• Check running status on the National Train Enquiry System before leaving for the station.
• Drive slowly with low beams in fog, and keep a long gap.
• If you have a connecting flight via Delhi or Jaipur, allow extra time.

Our Kota travel weather guide covers trains, roads and flights by season.

Rain in December

December is dry: 3.6 mm of rain in a normal month, and 0.3 rainy days. A cloudy, drizzly day is possible when a western disturbance passes, and it often feels colder than a clear day with a lower minimum, because there is no afternoon sun to warm things up.

Air quality on still winter mornings

Cold, calm mornings trap smoke and dust near the ground. On those mornings the Air Quality Index in Kota can be noticeably worse than in the afternoon. If you exercise outdoors or have a breathing condition, check the CPCB AQI first and consider moving your walk later. See our Kota air quality guide.

December in IMD’s station tables

Beyond temperature and rain, IMD’s Climatological Tables 1991-2020 for Kota Airport describe a December that is clear, calm and often hazy:

• Clear skies. About 21 mornings and 18 evenings have no cloud at all; mean cloud cover is 1.4 to 1.5 oktas.
• Calm air. The wind is calm at 08:30 IST on 62 percent of days, the highest share of the year, and the mean wind speed is 2.8 km/h.
• Hazy mornings. Morning visibility is 1 to 4 km on about 24 days, and under 1 km on about 2.7 days.
• Fog. IMD records an average of 0.4 fog days in December, rising to 1.8 in January.

Calm, hazy mornings are also when air quality tends to be at its worst. See Kota fog for visibility and travel, and our Kota wedding season weather guide if you are planning an outdoor function.

What to pack for December in Kota

• A warm jacket, sweater or shawl, plus a thermal layer if you feel the cold.
• Light shirts or kurtas for the afternoon.
• Closed shoes and warm socks; a cap or scarf for early mornings.
• Moisturiser and lip balm for the dry air.
• Sunscreen and sunglasses: the winter sun is still strong at midday.

The full seasonal list is in what to pack for Kota.

Visiting Kota in December

December is peak season for good reason. The Garh palace, Kishore Sagar, the riverfront and the temples of the old city are all comfortable through the day. Start outdoor sights after the morning chill has eased, use the bright middle of the day for open-air places, and keep evenings for markets and dinners, with a warm layer. Year-end holidays bring more visitors, so book trains and rooms early. For full trip plans, see Kota itinerary by weather.

For neighbouring months, read Kota weather in November and Kota weather in January, or compare all twelve in Kota weather by month.