Overview

The Himalaya are vast, stretching from Bhutan to Pakistan, a distance of ~2500 kilometers (~1,500 miles).  The orographically fragmented (broken into a series of mountain chains) range is on average about 200 kilometers wide, and boasts one of the most phenomenal Himalaya weather events on earth. The monsoon.  The monsoon itself affects a large portion of southeast Asia, and in the Himalaya, persists from mid June to the end of September. The monsoon arrives from the east, and slowly works its way across the Himalaya in the month of June.

Historically, more precipitation is recorded in the eastern Himalaya, with less and less as the monsoons works its way west.  The monsoon plays a major role in expedition and trek planning in the Himalaya,  and we always plan our bigger climbs pre- and post-monsoon, being April-May, and September-November.  These two seasons are called the “climbing seasons” in the Nepal and Indian Himalaya in relation to Himalaya weather.

Below, you’ll find links to some interesting weather graphs, including the weather on some of the highest peaks on Earth, and a model of the jet stream flowing through Asia.  The systems we use for weather forecasting on our high altitude climbs are more elaborate, but the models below give an excellent introduction to weather modeling and some of the terms involved with weather forecasts at home for you and while on expedition.

View the current  Himalaya weather, including the jet stream, selected 8000 meter peaks, and other useful and interesting Himalayan data.

Be advised that precipitation models can be a bit overestimated on the graphs.

Weather by meteoexploration.