The reference weather station sits at 2,310 metres, in the valley itself. At that altitude something happens that throws anyone arriving from a coastal city: the difference between the coldest month and the warmest is smaller than the difference between midday and dawn on the same day. The season matters; the clock matters more.
01 Seventeen degrees in a day
The numbers are plain. In January, a high of 14.8 and a low of −2.2: 17 degrees of range. In December, 16.6 and −0.8. In February, 16.6 and 0.3. Even in the year's mildest month, August, there are 11 degrees between day and night. The absolute cold record is −8.5 degrees, in January; the heat record, 33.0, in July.
02 A small monsoon
The second surprise is how much it rains, or rather how little. The valley receives around 609 millimetres a year over 88 days. For scale, that is less than a third of what falls on the capitals of the Ganges delta, a few hundred kilometres away. The mountains in the south of the country strip out most of the moisture before it gets here.
But those 609 millimetres are badly distributed: 371 fall between June and August, and July alone contributes 152.8 over nineteen days. And the problem with the monsoon here is not the water that falls on you but the cloud that sits on the ridges. In a mountain destination where half the interest lies in the distance, losing visibility means losing the trip.
03 November, 1.2 millimetres
There is a figure that almost looks like a typo and is not. November's average precipitation is 1.2 millimetres, with 0.3 rainy days in the month. Translated: over a run of three Novembers, only one has a single day with appreciable rain. It is by far the driest month of the year and one of the driest of any capital.
November has 1.2 millimetres of rain and 0.3 rainy days. It is not a dry month: it is practically a month without water.
October is its antechamber and works almost as well: 43.1 millimetres over fewer than five days, with a high of 23.7 and a low of 9.0, which is the calendar's most comfortable combination. Air freshly washed by the monsoon also leaves the year's longest visibility towards the northern summits, which is exactly what people come to see.
04 If you go in winter
Winter has a serious argument in its favour: it is dry and bright, and January afternoons at 14.8 degrees under a clean sky walk very well. The problem starts when the sun goes down. With lows of −2.2 and accommodation not always designed for continuous heating, the night is the part of the trip you have to prepare for.
The practical rule is simple: dress in layers and plan the day around the shade, not the sun. At this altitude, the difference between a sunlit street and the opposite pavement can be several degrees, and from five in the afternoon the valley cools fast. And if you are going to move on mountain roads in January or February, count on snow closing passes.
05 The verdict
October and November, and between the two, November by a hair. October wins on night-time temperature, 9.0 against 3.2; November wins on everything else, and that difference of 43 to 1.2 millimetres counts for a lot when the trip depends on seeing far. If you sleep badly in the cold, choose October; if you are coming for the mountains, November.
April is the third option and the best one if you prefer long days and frost-free nights: 22.4 and 7.9 degrees with only 29.9 millimetres. And the advice that sums up the article: whichever month you are looking at, always read the minimum column before you pack. Here it is the one in charge.
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