A sunset on the dunes of the Great Indian Thar Desert Rajasthan India

An aerial view of Udaipur and Aravali hills Rajasthan India 2012

The climate of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

in northwestern India is generally

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

and features fairly hot temperatures over the year with extreme temperatures in both summer and winter.

History

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

the greater part of Rajasthan falls under Hot Desert (BWh) and remaining portions of the state falls under Hot Semi Arid (BSh); the climate of the state ranges from arid to semi-arid. Rajasthan receives low and variable rainfalls and thereby is prone to

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

s. As Rajasthan is the dry and hot state, Unbelievable hailstorm covered Nagaur, Rajasthan in a thin snow-like icy blanket in December 2019. Later on, it is clarified that this is not a snowfall but a hailstorm, endorse by western disturbances. The climate has changed in winters like never before.

Seasons

Summer

Due to the Desert Geography, frequently climb above 40 to 45 degrees Celsius in most places. Due to its location, summers are the longest season in Rajasthan. In this time tourist activities are very low.

Winter

The

cold weather Cold weather may refer to: *Cold wave, a weather phenomenon distinguished by cooling of the air *''Cold Weather'', a 2010 American mystery film {{dab ...

commences early in October and ends around the end of February and sometimes the temperatures reach nearly 2-degree celsius record in 1964 in JAIPUR the temperature reached 0-degree Celsius on 13 December. .

Monsoon

The state has two distinct periods of rainfall: rainfall due to the

South-West Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

after summer and rainfall due to

Western Disturbances A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, which extends as east as up to northern parts of Bangladesh and South easter ...

Temperature

Precipitation

Disasters

Drought and famine

Rajasthan receives low and variable rainfalls and thereby is prone to droughts. Availability of water is less due to the absence of rivers and lakes.

Floods

Occasional floods in cities due to improper drainage occurs. Sometimes floods also occur in western Rajasthan due to impervious base rocks.