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Climate

The state enjoys three main types of climates. For meteorological purposes, the state has been divided into three sub-divisions namely

 

  1. Coastal Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts),
  2. North Interior Karnataka (Belgaum, Bidar, Bijapur, Dharwad, Gulbarga and Raichur districts) and
  3. South Interior Karnataka (the remaining districts of Bangalore Rural, Bangalore, Bellary, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Kodagu, Hassan, Kolar, Mysore, Mandya, Shimoga and Tumkur districts)

The Tropical Monsoon climate covers the entire coastal belt and adjoining areas. The climate in this region is hot with excessive rainfall during the monsoon season i.e., June to September. The Southern half of the State experiences hot, seasonally dry tropical savana climate while most of the northern half experiences hot, semi-arid, tropical steppe type of climate. The climate of the State varies with the seasons.

The winter season from January to February is followed by summer season from March to May. The period from October to December forms the post-monsoon season. The period from October to March, covering the post-monsoon and winter seasons, is generally pleasant over the entire State except during a few spells of rain associated with north-east monsoon which affects the south-eastern parts of the State during October to December.

The months April and May are hot, very dry and generally uncomfortable. Weather tends to be oppressive during June due to high humidity and temperature. The next three months (July, August and September) are somewhat comfortable due to reduced day temperature although the humidities continue to be very high.