The state has an equable climate particularly in those areas which are hilly or a high plateau. Climate is the chief attraction of the capital city, Bangalore. It is known as the air conditioned city. Bangalore receives its quota of rainfall from both the winter and summer monsoons. Sometimes its share of winter rain, from October to January, may be greater. Thus, the dust is laid and the atmosphere is kept invigoratingly cool or agreeably warm. The climate is pleasant throughout the year.

The average rainfall in the Ghat region is 254 cm while parts of the Kanara coast account for 762 cm. The rainfall in the plains is substantially less and some areas in the north, south and east sometimes face the problem of drought as the rainfall is not adequate or even totally deficient.

The state enjoys three main types of climates. For meteorological purposes, the state has been divided into three sub-divisions namely

1. Coastal Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts),
2. North Interior Karnataka (Belgaum, Bidar, Bijapur, Dharwad, Gulbarga and Raichur districts) and
3. South Interior Karnataka (the remaining districts of Bangalore Rural, Bangalore, Bellary, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Kodagu, Hassan, Kolar, Mysore, Mandya, Shimoga and Tumkur districts)

The Tropical Monsoon climate covers the entire coastal belt and adjoining areas. The climate in this region is hot with excessive rainfall during the monsoon season i.e., June to September. The Southern half of the State experiences hot, seasonally dry tropical savana climate while most of the northern half experiences hot, semi-arid, tropical steppe type of climate. The climate of the State varies with the seasons.

The winter season from January to February is followed by summer season from March to May. The period from October to December forms the post-monsoon season. The period from October to March, covering the post-monsoon and winter seasons, is generally pleasant over the entire State except during a few spells of rain associated with north-east monsoon which affects the south-eastern parts of the State during October to December.

The months April and May are hot, very dry and generally uncomfortable. Weather tends to be oppressive during June due to high humidity and temperature. The next three months (July, August and September) are somewhat comfortable due to reduced day temperature although the humidities continue to be very high.