Climate Records and Rankings for India
Official highest temperature and heaviest one-day rain records for India, each with its station, date and the document it comes from.
Past records, not today’s weather
Hottest recorded
51.0 °C
Phalodi, Rajasthan
19 May 2016
Coldest recorded
Not available
No official document with an all-India lowest temperature, station and date was found.
Heaviest rain in 24 hours
1,563.3 mm
Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya
16 June 1995
Driest place
Not available
No verified record in hand. Averages from our model are not a record.
Top 5 heaviest rain in 24 hours in India
IMD’s own list of daily rainfall records. Each date is printed exactly as IMD gives it. More in the Rainfall tab.
Key takeaways
- India’s highest recorded temperature is 51.0 °C, at Phalodi on 19 May 2016 (IMD).
- The heaviest one-day rain on IMD’s list is 1,563.3 mm at Sohra (Cherrapunji) on 16 June 1995. Sohra holds eight of the top eleven places.
- A record belongs to one station and one date. It is not the average of a city, and it cannot be compared with a model grid value.
Highest temperature recorded in India
| Station | Value | Date | Kind of figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phalodi, Rajasthan | 51.0 °C | 19 May 2016 | Official IMD station record |
| Alwar, Rajasthan | 50.6 °C | 1956 (day and month not given) | Official IMD station record, superseded in 2016 |
- IMD’s report calls it the highest temperature recorded in the country. The printed text says 'the temperature reported by Phalodi'. A reading of 52.9 C at Mungeshpur, Delhi on 29 May 2024 is not counted: IMD’s press release of 29 May 2024 called it an outlier that could be a sensor error.
- Shown for context: IMD says 'the previous highest ever temperature (50.6 C) was recorded by Alwar also in Rajasthan in 1956'.
- IMD’s own advice, in its press release of 29 May 2024, is that the long-period data of its five departmental observatories in Delhi (Safdarjung, Palam, Ayanagar, Ridge and Lodi Road) should be used for trends and extremes, not the newer automatic stations.
Source: India Meteorological Department, Annual Report 2016. Annual Report 2016, pages 15 and 85 of the PDF (printed pages 8 and 75). Open the document (opens in a new tab)
Lowest temperature recorded in India: Not available. We did not find an official document that states the station, the date and the value. Travel and quiz websites quote figures that do not agree with each other, so we do not repeat them.
Heaviest rain in 24 hours in India
This is IMD’s own list of the highest daily rainfall records in the country. IMD reports 24-hour rainfall up to 08:30 in the morning, and we print each date exactly as IMD does.
| Rank | Station | Rain in 24 hours | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 1,563.3 mm | 16 June 1995 |
| 2 | Aminidivi, Lakshadweep | 1,168.5 mm | 6 May 2004 |
| 3 | Umergam (Valsad), Gujarat | 1,064 mm | 23 July 2026 |
| 4 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 985.5 mm | 13 September 1974 |
| 5 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 973.8 mm | 5 June 1956 |
| 6 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 970.7 mm | 12 September 1974 |
| 7 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 962.3 mm | 15 September 1974 |
| 8 | Mumbai (Santacruz), Maharashtra | 944.2 mm | 27 July 2005 |
| 9 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 930 mm | 15 June 1995 |
| 10 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 905.6 mm | 22 June 2005 |
| 11 | Sohra (Cherrapunji), Meghalaya | 882.1 mm | 9 June 1966 |
- The Umergam figure is IMD's first report on the day (08:30 IST, 23 July 2026) and may be revised.
- IMD's date for the Mumbai (Santacruz) fall is 27 July 2005, the 24 hours to 08:30 that morning.
Source: India Meteorological Department, press release of 23 July 2026 (table 'The highest daily rainfall records in India'). Press release, 23 July 2026, 1430 IST, page 2 table. Open the document (opens in a new tab)
State records: Telangana
IMD’s Hyderabad centre publishes the highest and lowest temperature and the heaviest 24-hour rain ever recorded at each of its ten observatories in Telangana. Other states are not shown yet because we have not found a current, readable official table for them.
| Observatory | Highest temperature | Lowest temperature | Heaviest rain in 24 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adilabad since 1980 | 46.8 °C 5 June 1995 | 3.5 °C 27 December 2017 | 252.3 mm 20 October 1995 |
| Bhadrachalam since 29-01-1952 | 48.6 °C 9 May 1973 | 8.4 °C 5 January 1962 and 11 December 1970 | 230.6 mm 20 September 2005 |
| Hanumakonda since 12-01-1898 | 47.8 °C 3 June 2003 | 8.3 °C 29 December 1902 | 304.8 mm 28 September 1908 |
| Hyderabad since 10-11-1891 | 45.5 °C 2 June 1966 | 6.1 °C 8 January 1946 | 241.5 mm 24 August 2000 |
| Khammam since 08-12-1940 | 47.6 °C 23 May 2015 | 9.0 °C 20 December 2017 | 299.7 mm 10 July 1954 |
| Mahabubnagar since 09-02-1952 | 45.3 °C 30 April 1973 and 22 May 2015 | 9.1 °C 16 January 2009 | 252 mm 15 August 1978 |
| Medak since 1979 | 46.3 °C 18 May 2006 | 6.8 °C 20 December 2017 | 192.2 mm 21 September 2005 |
| Nalgonda since 1977 | 47.0 °C 22 May 2015 | 10.6 °C 22 December 2010 | 198.8 mm 26 October 2013 |
| Nizamabad since 12-11-1891 | 47.3 °C 22 May 2005 | 4.4 °C 17 December 1897 | 355 mm 6 October 1983 |
| Ramagundam since 1946 | 47.3 °C 24 May 1984 | 6.8 °C 14 January 2012 | 264.8 mm 12 August 2018 |
- The page says it is updated up to December 2022, so a later record would not appear in it. A “since” year is the year the observatory started; it is when the record begins, not a promise that every year is complete.
- Printed under the table as '675 MMS of rainfall was recorded in 24 hrs at Koida in Khammam on date 17-06-1996'. Koida is not one of the ten table stations. (675 mm on 17 June 1996.)
Source: India Meteorological Department, Hyderabad centre: 'Ever recorded extreme values in Telangana' (updated up to December 2022). Web page, ten-station table; the page's own header says 'updated upto December 2022'. Open the document (opens in a new tab)
World records held in India (WMO)
The World Meteorological Organization keeps an archive of weather and climate extremes. These three entries are in India. They are shown as the WMO prints them.
| Record | Place | Value | Date or period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greatest 48-hour rainfall in the world | Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India | 2,493 mm | 15 to 16 June 1995 |
| Greatest rainfall in 12 months in the world | Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India | 26,470 mm | August 1860 to July 1861 |
| Highest average annual precipitation in Asia (38-year average) | Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India | 11,872 mm per year | 38-year average (years not stated in the table) |
- None of the three is marked in the WMO table as formally evaluated by WMO. They are listed there, and old gauge records can carry uncertainty.
- WMO prints the value as 2.493 m; shown here in mm (2.493 m = 2,493 mm).
- WMO prints 26.47 m; shown here in mm (26,470 mm). This is 19th-century gauge data.
- WMO prints 11.872 m. It is a long-run average, so it has no single date. WMO's 24-hour world record is not in India (Foc-Foc, La Reunion, 1.825 m, 7-8 January 1966).
Source: WMO, Records of Weather and Climate Extremes (table as of 31 July 2025). Table page 1, 'Greatest 48-hr rainfall' row: 2.493 m (98.15 in.). Open the document (opens in a new tab)
Our model rankings (not records)
Model data, not thermometer records. These lists rank our own ERA5-based data. ERA5 is a computer-model rebuild of past weather on squares about 28 km wide. It cannot name the town that has been hottest; it only shows how our own data line up. Use these lists to see patterns, not to name a “hottest town”.
Coverage: 141 of the 143 cities in our data (Kargil and Leh left out: their model squares sit on high mountains and give yearly averages below freezing, which does not match life in those towns). Usual means the 1991 to 2020 average. Data to September 2026. Package 2026.09.1-worldrain.
Hottest cities by usual yearly average
Average of day and night over the whole year, 1991 to 2020. This is not the daytime high and not the hottest day.
| Rank | City | Usual yearly average |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu | 29.3 °C |
| 2 | Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu | 28.9 °C |
| 3 | Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh | 28.7 °C |
| 4 | Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh | 28.6 °C |
| 5 | Markapuram, Andhra Pradesh | 28.4 °C |
| 6 | Sri City-Sullurpeta, Andhra Pradesh | 28.3 °C |
| 7 | Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh | 28.2 °C |
| 8 | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | 28.1 °C |
| 9 | Puducherry, Puducherry | 27.9 °C |
| 10 | Adilabad, Telangana | 27.6 °C |
Cities warming fastest since 1981
Slope of a straight line through the yearly changes, 1981 to 2025, per decade, with the 95 per cent range (widened for year-to-year memory). 112 of 141 ranked cities show a rise that is clearly more than chance; only those are ranked. Neighbouring ranks are inside each other’s range, so read this as a group, not as a podium.
| Rank | City | Rise per decade | 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir | +0.42 °C | ± 0.12 |
| 2 | Imphal, Manipur | +0.37 °C | ± 0.07 |
| 3 | Aizawl, Mizoram | +0.35 °C | ± 0.07 |
| 4 | Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir | +0.34 °C | ± 0.12 |
| 5 | Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh | +0.33 °C | ± 0.09 |
| 6 | Kohima, Nagaland | +0.33 °C | ± 0.08 |
| 7 | Shillong, Meghalaya | +0.32 °C | ± 0.06 |
| 8 | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh | +0.31 °C | ± 0.11 |
| 9 | Guwahati, Assam | +0.31 °C | ± 0.07 |
| 10 | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala | +0.29 °C | ± 0.07 |
India’s warmest years in our data
Yearly average temperature for India as a whole, 1954 to 2025. Years before 1954 are left out because the model reads too cold over India then. IMD publishes its own ranking of India’s warmest years; it is not shown here.
| Rank | Year | Average temperature |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | 24.58 °C |
| 2 | 2024 | 24.49 °C |
| 3 | 2009 | 24.45 °C |
| 4 | 2017 | 24.45 °C |
| 5 | 2010 | 24.40 °C |
| 6 | 2018 | 24.24 °C |
| 7 | 2019 | 24.20 °C |
| 8 | 2023 | 24.20 °C |
| 9 | 2015 | 24.19 °C |
| 10 | 2022 | 24.19 °C |
What is not available, and why
- India's lowest temperature ever recorded (no official document found)
- Hottest and coolest cities as official records (we show averages from our own model data instead, in a separate section)
- Driest places and lowest rainfall records
- Heatwave days, warm nights and heat index (we hold no daily data that can be checked against published figures)
- Records for states other than Telangana (no current, readable official table found yet)
We would rather leave a gap than show a number we could not check. When an official source for any of these is found, it will be added with its station, date and document.
Download these records as CSV · How we read the figures · Climate home
Official records opened and checked on 4 November 2026. A record is shown only when we could open the official document and read the station, date and value ourselves; everything else says “Not available”. Past records for information only. For today’s weather and warnings use the India Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management Authority.