Ranikhet under snow in January 2018. The Almora-side towns got snow again on 23 January 2026. Photo © Harshit SR, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Which places to visit in December, January and February, what the weather is like in each, and how to reach them from Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata or Haldwani without losing a day to fog.
The short answer: snow in Uttarakhand is a late December to February event, and it falls on high ground. In the last three winters the first snow around Nainital came on 1 February 2024, 9 December 2024 and 23 January 2026, and each time the snow that settled was on Naina Peak, Kilbury and the ridges rather than on Mall Road. Between snowfalls the hills are cold, clear and mostly dry: IMD’s 1991 to 2020 normals for Mukteshwar give nights of 6 °C in November and under 2 °C in January, and less than one rainy day in November. Haldwani, at 424 m, never gets snow, but it is the railhead for every snow point in Kumaon.
By Meghna Bora, Contributor, Nainital. About the author ↓
The page below is written to hold good every winter. The things that change from one season to the next sit here, with the date we checked them.
Winter 2026-27: what we know on 4 October 2026
Winter in Uttarakhand runs from November to February, and it is really two seasons laid on top of each other. On the ridges above about 2,000 m it is snow season. Everywhere below that, it is the clearest, driest and coldest weather of the year, with the long Himalayan views that summer haze hides.
| Month | Night / day (°C) | Rain, rainy days | Snow odds | Crowds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | 6.1 / 17.2 | 7.9 mm, 0.7 days | Very low | Diwali week busy, then quiet |
| December | 3.6 / 14.4 | 17.7 mm, 1.1 days | Some years, late in the month | Quiet until Christmas, then the peak |
| January | 1.7 / 12.1 | 45.6 mm, 3.0 days | Best odds, after rain | Busy first week, quiet after |
| February | 2.7 / 13.5 | 68.1 mm, 4.2 days | Good odds, after rain | Quiet |
Mukteshwar is the only IMD observatory in the Nainital hills with current normals, which is why we use it here. It sits at 2,286 m, about 200 m above Nainital town, so treat its nights as a little colder than the lakeside. The pattern to notice is the rain column. Snow comes with the western disturbances that bring winter rain, and Mukteshwar averages under one rainy day in November but four in February. That is why the snow so often arrives in late January and February rather than at Christmas.
Snow is the reason many people come, and it is the one part of a winter trip you cannot book. It falls mostly above 2,000 m, between late December and February, on a handful of days that follow winter rain. In the last three winters the first snow near Nainital came on 1 February 2024, 9 December 2024 and 23 January 2026, each time on the peaks above town rather than on Mall Road. We rank the snow spots across the state by how often they actually get snow, with altitudes, dated reports and drive times, in where to see snow in Uttarakhand. For Nainital alone, Nainital snowfall has the month-by-month odds.
The rest of this page is about the trip around the snow: which places to visit in each winter month, what the weather is like, how to get there, and what closes.
Mukteshwar’s November normals are 17 °C by day and 6 °C at night with 7.9 mm of rain, less than one rainy day in the month. That dry air is what gives November its long views of the snow range from Snow View and Tiffin Top. Snow is very unlikely: we found no report of snow in Nainital in November in any of the last three years. Diwali falls on 8 November in 2026, so the first half of the month is busy and the second half quiet. We cover the month in detail in Nainital in November.
Nights fall to about 4 °C at Mukteshwar and days to 14 °C. Down in the plains December is the start of fog season: IMD’s normals for Pantnagar, the nearest plains observatory to Haldwani, count about ten fog days in December and fifteen in January, which is what delays the trains. The first three weeks are quiet. From Christmas to New Year Nainital is at its fullest and the police run a special traffic plan, described below. In one of the last three winters, 2024, the first snow came in December. Our Nainital in December guide counts the snow in every December since 2019 and sets out the Christmas and New Year traffic plan.
Mukteshwar averages 1.7 °C at night and 12 °C by day, and rainy days rise to three. Two of the last three first snowfalls came in January or early February. The first week is still New Year traffic; after that the hills empty out. Mid-January brings Makar Sankranti, Kumaon’s Ghughutiya and the Uttarayani fair at Bageshwar.
February is the wettest winter month at Mukteshwar, 68 mm over about four rainy days, and that is good news for snow: the 2024 season’s snow came on 1 and 22 February. Days start to warm towards the end of the month and hotel rates sit near their winter low.
For most of Kumaon, winter planning starts at Kathgodam, the railhead 5 km above Haldwani. These are the places most people are choosing between.
The best-known winter names in the state, Auli, Mussoorie and Dhanaulti, Chakrata and Chopta, are in Garhwal, and the gateway for them is Dehradun, Rishikesh or Haridwar rather than Kathgodam. From Haldwani they are long drives across the state.
Garhwal is also where the state’s best-known winter treks are, from Kedarkantha and Dayara to Kuari Pass above Auli and Chandrashila above Chopta. Which one suits your days and your train, and the one snow trek that is easier from Kathgodam than from Dehradun, are in our guide to winter treks in Uttarakhand.
Fog is the winter risk on the plains, not snow. Every winter the railways cancel or thin out north Indian trains from early December to late February. Last winter’s changes on the Kathgodam routes, as reported at the time:
This winter’s first list, announced on 15 and 16 October 2026, cancels the two Garib Raths again from early December; none of the three daily Delhi trains is on it. Their timings, and how late they have run in past winters, are in our guide to the Delhi to Kathgodam train. If you are coming from Delhi and weighing the train against the bus, the car or the flight to Pantnagar, our Delhi to Nainital guide compares them on time and cost.
This winter’s list usually comes out in October or November. Until then, book a train that runs daily if you can, and leave a buffer before anything you cannot miss. If you land late, our guide to hotels near Kathgodam railway station lists the closest beds.
On the hill road, weekends are the problem, not the weather. The Nainital Police weekend plan reported on 3 October 2026 holds uphill traffic from Haldwani and Kathgodam between 4 PM and 10 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, gives priority to vehicles coming down, and suggests the Kaladhungi road for Nainital. Vehicles from Rudrapur, Bazpur, Ramnagar and Kashipur are sent via Mukhani, Fatehpur and Patwa Dangar. Leave Haldwani before lunch on a weekend.
After snow, the shaded bends on the higher roads ice over in the early morning and can stay icy into the day. Start after the sun is up, come down before dark, and hire a local driver rather than self-driving if you have never driven on a frozen hill road. Our Haldwani cab guide has fares and operators.
The high shrines close and their deities are carried down to winter seats, where worship carries on through the cold months.
| Shrine | Closed in 2025 | Winter seat |
|---|---|---|
| Gangotri | 22 October | Mukhba |
| Kedarnath | 23 October | Omkareshwar temple, Ukhimath |
| Yamunotri | 23 October | Kharsali |
| Badrinath | 25 November | Yogadhyan Badri at Pandukeshwar; Adi Shankaracharya’s gaddi at the Narsingh temple, Jyotirmath |
The 2025 dates are from All India Radio’s report of 2 October 2025; the Badrinath arrangements are from ETV Bharat, 27 November 2025. The 2026 dates had not been announced when we checked. Hemkund Sahib closes on 10 October 2026, its trust has said.
This year’s dates were announced on 19 and 20 October 2026: Gangotri closes on 10 November, Kedarnath and Yamunotri on 11 November and Badrinath on 16 November. Our guide to the Char Dham yatra in winter has the dates the deities reach their winter seats, the roads to each one and what snow does to them.
From Delhi and the NCR, Kumaon is an overnight train to Kathgodam or a drive of most of a day; Garhwal’s snow points are nearer via Dehradun. In winter, add a buffer for fog either way.
From Lucknow, Kanpur and Bareilly, Kathgodam is the obvious railhead, but check the Kanpur train first: it was cancelled for most of last winter.
From Kolkata, the Bagh Express runs through to Kathgodam, on fewer days in winter. Plan around the days it runs.
From further away, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad or Hyderabad, fly to Delhi or to Pantnagar, near Haldwani, and keep a spare day at the start of the trip for fog.
From Haldwani, Rudrapur, Kashipur or Ramnagar, snow is a day trip. It arrives with little notice: watch the IMD alerts, go the morning after a western disturbance clears, and be back on the plains before dark.
If the dates are flexible, the cheapest way to do any of this is to sleep in the plains and go up for the day. Our month-by-month guide to Haldwani has the hotel rates through the year.
For a short trip from Haldwani or Delhi, Nainital and Mukteshwar are the easiest, with clear views and quiet weeks until Christmas. Jim Corbett is in full safari season, and the Almora side, Ranikhet, Kausani and Binsar, is quieter still. In Garhwal, Mussoorie and Dhanaulti are the closest hill towns to Dehradun, and Auli suits a longer trip. Book Christmas to New Year early, when Nainital is at its fullest.
Usually, if you time it. Snow closes the higher roads, such as those to Kilbury, Pangot and Mukteshwar, for hours rather than days, and JCBs clear them after each fall. The real danger is ice on shaded bends early in the morning after a cold night or a snowfall. Drive after the sun is up, come down before dark, and hire a local driver if you have never driven on a frozen hill road.
Yes. The hill towns, Kainchi Dham, Corbett and the Kumaon roads stay open. What closes is the high country: the Char Dham shrines close in October and November and worship moves to winter seats lower down. Roads above about 2,000 m can shut for a day or two after heavy snow.
Not the temple at Kedarnath, which closes for the winter. Through the winter the deity is worshipped at the Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath, and that is where winter pilgrims go. The 2026 closing date had not been announced on 4 October 2026; in 2025 Kedarnath closed on 23 October.
Not if you pack for it. January is the coldest month: IMD normals for Mukteshwar give about 12 °C by day and 1.7 °C at night, and Nainital is only a little milder. Days are often clear and sunny, the hills are quiet after the first week, and January has some of the best odds of snow. Bring proper layers, gloves and a cap, and plan evenings indoors on the higher ridges.