WINTER: Runs from December through February. Daily temperature around 30° C and nights are pleasant, even cool. This is high tourist season in Pondicherry.

SUMMER: From March through July has hot and humid climate. Temperature routinely touching 40° C in May and June. Normally around 35° C-38° C.

MONSOON: The monsoon on the west coast brings temporary relief towards the end of July and in August which results in milder temperatures and occasional showers which might continue right upto the month of October. The North West Monsoon in October through December brings cooler whether. The monsoon develops through out this period, peaking in November and occasional quick tempered storm fill the streets for a day or so.Throughout the year, evening sea breezes can bring relief.

The weather in Pondicherry is hot. But it can be managed. And it can be delightful.

It is pleasant to walk with an umbrella in the drizzle. And the storms of April through November particularly those of October and November which account for half the annual rainfall can serve up first rate son-et-lumiere shows with rolling bass drums of thunder and lightning that forks across the sky and backlights clouds. Note that October and November can also if rarely, bring rain for days at a time or very rarely a cyclone.

Clouds are another delight in Pondicherry. They pile over the sea in cumulous baroque billows and fronts with fine cirrus detailing. And they often produce remarkable sunsets at both the western and eastern horizons. It is a good idea to keep your head up except in March and April when the skies are remorselessly clear and more bleached than blue.

The Bay of Bengal is affected by the weather as well as by the moon. The sea has many aspects, most of the grey cast. In the mid-morning, waves carry tons of blinding molten light to extinction on the rocky shore.

Around October, the waves driven by tide and wind easily and teasingly break high over the sea wall drenching passers by in a rain of salt water. Or standing long waves play themselves out along the length of the beach road tossing spray at intervals as they pass. After a heavy rain the sea has distinct bands of colour-sandy at the shore and strips of green and grey out to the horizon.

Watching the sea separate from the sky at the horizon in the morning and reunite with it at night recalls the way traditional Muslims determine the daily beginning and end of the fasting time when black and white threads held together in the morning can be distinguished from each other and in the evening when they cannot.

The time of monsoons is crucial. People watch the “setting in” or “onset” and the “withdrawal” of the monsoon with great interest. The onset is important for relief after a sizzling summer. The withdrawal is equally welcome as the end of a period of flooding, insects, fungus and rust. The rainfall in between makes or breaks harvests and so affects food availability prices and prosperity all over India.