Pokhara has a subtropical climate at 800 m — warm most of the year, never freezing in the city — and one of the highest rainfalls of any Nepali town. The question is not temperature. It is whether you will see the mountains.
At a glance
- Clearest
- Oct–Nov
- Warmest & clear
- Mar–Apr
- Coldest
- Dec–Jan mornings
- Wettest
- Jul–Aug
- Flying season
- Late Sep – May
October and November
The monsoon has washed the air clean, the skies are blue almost every day, the rice is being harvested, and the mountains stand up behind the lake every morning. Days are warm (mid-20s °C), nights mild. This is peak season for a reason: book beds and flights ahead, expect Sarangkot to be busy, and enjoy it. Dasain and Tihar, the two biggest festivals, fall in this window.
December to February
Cold mornings — single digits before dawn, warming to the high teens by lunch — with very clear skies and fewer people. Morning fog sometimes sits on the lake and burns off by 9. The Pokhara Street Festival runs on Lakeside over the New Year period (roughly 28 December – 1 January), with food stalls and music the length of the road. Good value, good light, pack a fleece.
March and April
Warm, rhododendrons on the hills, the second trekking season. The catch is haze: dust and agricultural smoke build through the spring so mountains are clear early in the morning and soft or gone by mid-day. Sarangkot at sunrise still works; afternoon views less so. Holi falls in March.
May
Hot — into the 30s — hazy, and the pre-monsoon thunderstorms begin. Tolerable for the lake and the town, poor for views, and the paragliding season is winding down.
June to September: monsoon
Pokhara receives most of its roughly 3,500–4,000 mm of annual rain in these months, much of it at night. The lake is full, the falls are roaring, everything is intensely green, prices are low, and the mountains appear perhaps a few mornings a month after a big storm. Paragliding is mostly off; the highway suffers landslides. It's a fine time to be here if the mountains are not the point.
At a glance
| Month | Mountains | Rain | Crowds | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Excellent | Dry | Low | Cold mornings |
| Feb | Excellent | Dry | Low | |
| Mar | Good early | Little | Medium | Haze builds, Holi |
| Apr | Good early | Little | Medium–high | Rhododendron |
| May | Poor | Storms | Low | Hot |
| Jun | Poor | Heavy | Low | |
| Jul | Poor | Heaviest | Low | |
| Aug | Poor | Heaviest | Low | |
| Sep | Improving | Easing | Low–medium | Late Sep good |
| Oct | Excellent | Dry | High | Dasain/Tihar |
| Nov | Excellent | Dry | High | |
| Dec | Excellent | Dry | Medium | Street Festival |
Questions I get asked
Does it snow in Pokhara?
Not in the city — it sits at about 800 m. Snow stays on the peaks and, in winter, on the high trekking passes.
What should I pack?
Light layers year round; a warm layer and a hat for winter mornings and Sarangkot at dawn; a proper rain jacket and quick-drying clothes in monsoon. Sun protection always — the UV at this latitude is strong.