Kota weather station: where Kota's official weather numbers come from

Kota weather station data are behind almost every reliable number you read about Kota’s climate, including the figures on this site. When a guide says Kota’s normal annual rainfall is 816 mm or its May mean maximum is 42.6 C, those values come from the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) observatory for Kota, averaged over thirty years. Knowing what that station measures, and when, helps you read weather numbers correctly and spot when an app or a social media post is using something else.

The station: KOTA, index 42452

IMD lists Kota’s observatory as KOTA [42452] in its Climatological Tables. The five-digit number is the station’s international index, used to identify it in global weather data exchange. Our guides call it the Kota Airport station. Its long-term records are part of IMD’s national network, and Meteorological Centre Jaipur covers forecasts and warnings for Rajasthan.

What the station measures

IMD’s Climatological Tables 1991-2020 for Kota list a wide range of measurements. The main ones are:

• Temperature: mean daily maximum and minimum, the mean of the hottest and coldest day of each month, and dry bulb temperature at fixed hours.
• Humidity: wet bulb temperature, relative humidity and vapour pressure. See Kota humidity and Kota wet bulb temperature.
• Rainfall: the mean monthly total, the number of rainy days (2.5 mm or more) and days with any precipitation of 0.3 mm or more. See Kota rainfall.
• Pressure: mean station-level pressure, explained in Kota air pressure.
• Cloud: total and low cloud in oktas, and the number of days in each cloud class. See Kota cloud cover.
• Wind: mean speed, direction frequencies and calm days. See Kota wind.
• Weather events: days with thunder, hail, fog, dust storm and squall, and visibility classes. See Kota thunderstorms and Kota fog.

Observation times: 08:30 and 17:30 IST

Many rows in the tables have two columns, for 03 UTC and 12 UTC. In Indian Standard Time these are 08:30 and 17:30. Temperatures, humidity, cloud and wind are averaged at those fixed hours. Daily maximum and minimum temperatures come from special thermometers that record the highest and lowest readings over the day. This is why the 17:30 temperature is a little lower than the mean maximum: the hottest part of the day is usually mid-afternoon. Our Kota weather by time of day guide uses these columns to compare mornings and evenings.

How to read the normals

A normal is a thirty-year average, here for 1991-2020. Some rows need care:

• Mean daily maximum is the typical afternoon high, not the hottest day. In May it is 42.6 C.
• Mean of highest maximum is the average of each month’s single hottest day. In May it is 46.1 C, so most Mays have at least one day around that level.
• Rainy days count days with 2.5 mm or more. In July Kota averages 11.6 rainy days but 15.3 days with any measurable rain.
• Event days such as fog or hail are averages, so 0.4 hail days a year means hail is recorded only in some years.

Normals do not include record extremes. IMD publishes station extremes separately on the Data Service Portal.

Why apps and other sources differ

• Model data: most weather apps use computer model output for a grid point rather than a thermometer reading, and some round or smooth the values.
• Exposure: official thermometers sit in a ventilated screen over open ground. A thermometer on a balcony, a car dashboard or a sunlit wall can read several degrees higher.
• Location: Kota city is large, and built-up areas can be warmer at night than open ground.
• Time: a reading at 2 pm and the 17:30 normal measure different things.

None of this makes apps useless; it means you should compare like with like. For warnings, always use IMD. The live panel on Kota weather today uses Open-Meteo model data and says so.

Getting official data

The IMD Data Service Portal, run by IMD’s National Data Centre in Pune, offers:

1. Climate Tables (free): the 1991-2020 normals for Kota and hundreds of other stations, by month and for the year.
2. Historical extremes: published separately on the portal.
3. Data requests: daily or hourly records, and weather reports for insurance or legal purposes, after registering. The portal shows data availability and a cost estimate, and charges depend on the user category.

For current observations and short-range warnings, IMD’s station-wise nowcast and district warnings are the official tools, explained in Kota weather forecast and Kota weather warnings.

Common mistakes when quoting Kota weather data

• Mixing normals with records. “Kota’s May temperature is 46 C” usually mixes up the mean of the hottest day (46.1 C) with the typical afternoon high (42.6 C). Say which one you mean.
• Mixing periods. Older guides quote 1961-1990 or 1981-2010 normals. The figures on this site use 1991-2020, the latest standard period in IMD’s tables.
• Mixing stations. A figure for “Kota” from a satellite estimate, a model grid or a different gauge in the district will not match the observatory exactly.
• Treating averages as guarantees. A normal of 0.6 rainy days in March does not mean it will not rain on your March trip; it means it rarely does.

Comparing Kota with other IMD stations

The same IMD Data Service Portal holds tables for hundreds of stations, which is how our comparison guides are built. Each station has a five-digit index, and the station name in the table tells you which site it is: for example New Delhi (Safdarjung) 42182, Jodhpur 42339, Sikar 42249, Ahmedabad 42647, Mumbai (Santacruz) 43003 and Hyderabad 43128. Big cities often have more than one station, such as Santacruz and Colaba in Mumbai, and they can differ noticeably.

When comparing stations, keep three things in mind:

• Use the same period. Compare 1991-2020 with 1991-2020, not with older 1961-1990 or 1971-2000 tables.
• Watch for missing elements. A zero can mean “not observed” rather than “never happened”. Sikar’s table shows zeros for thunder, fog and cloud-count days, so we compare only its temperature, rain, humidity and wind with Kota.
• One point is not a district. Rainfall in particular varies across a district, so a station’s normal is a guide for that place, not a district total.

Our comparisons using these tables include Kota vs Sikar weather, Kota vs Jodhpur weather, Kota vs Ahmedabad weather, Kota vs Mumbai weather and Kota vs Hyderabad weather.

Using the data well

Use normals to plan a season, such as choosing a month for a trip or a wedding, and use the forecast to plan a day. If you need a number for a report, cite IMD and the period (1991-2020), and say which row you used. For a full monthly summary of the station’s averages, see Kota weather by month.