Dehradun in November: Igas Bagwal, crisp days and the first chill

Dehradun weather in November

On the India Meteorological Department’s 1991–2020 averages, a November day in Dehradun reaches about 25.5 °C and a November night falls to about 11.4 °C. Rain is close to absent: 5.2 mm in an average November, on less than one rainy day (0.4). It is the driest month of the year here. IMD counts less than one day of thunder and almost no fog.

What the averages hide is how much the month moves. IMD’s Dehradun office publishes the warmest and coldest reading of every November. Over the last ten, the warmest day almost always came in the first week or so, at 28–31 °C. The coldest night almost always came in the last ten days, at 7.5–9.8 °C. So the first week can feel like late October, and the last week like early December.

Four of those ten Novembers had no rain at all, and the wettest had 13.5 mm. The coldest November night on IMD’s record is 2.8 °C, on 30 November 1938. These are past readings, not a forecast. As of 1 November 2026, IMD’s Meteorological Centre Dehradun posted the district forecast and warnings; check it in the week you travel.

The light changes too. The sun rises around 6:30 am at the start of the month and nearly 7 am by the end, and it sets at about 5:30 pm early in the month and 5:17 pm by the end. In a valley it drops behind the hills before the official time. Plan to be back from the hills before dark.

What to pack for November

Our own Instagram caption from 8 October 2026 said it simply: “Bring light jackets and enjoy pre winters.” By November we’d add a warmer layer for the evenings.

• A light jacket or sweater for mornings and evenings, more so after the middle of the month.
• Cotton for the afternoons. A sunny afternoon early in the month can still touch 30 °C.
• A proper warm layer if you are going up to Mussoorie or further into the hills.
• Sunscreen and sunglasses. Most November days here are clear.

For how November compares with December, January and February, and where snow falls, see our guide to Dehradun in winter.

Igas Bagwal: Garhwal’s own Diwali

Igas, also called Budhi Diwali, is kept on the Ekadashi about eleven days after Diwali. The Times of India, reporting the 2025 festival, gave the two stories people tell. One is that news of Rama’s return to Ayodhya reached the hills eleven days late. The other is that the 17th-century Garhwali warrior Madho Singh Bhandari came home from a campaign against Tibet after Diwali had passed, and the hills lit their lamps then.

The part to see is the bhailo: clusters of pine bark are lit and danced with around a bonfire, to the dhol, the damau and Garhwali songs, while houses are lit with diyas. In 2025, the paper reported, a statehood agitators’ forum held Igas celebrations at the Shaheed Smarak in Dehradun, and the traders’ association in Mussoorie held one there. Nobody has announced 2027 events yet. We will add them here when they are.

The date: with Diwali on Friday 29 October 2027, the Ekadashi falls on Wednesday 10 November, so Igas is expected that day. Igas is on Uttarakhand’s list of public holidays; in 2026 it fell on 20 November. The 2026 list came out on 24 December 2025, and we will confirm the 2027 date when the new list is out.

How we’d plan it. Igas is an evening festival, and November evenings are cold, so bring the warm layer. If you want the village version, you will need friends or family in the hills; the town celebrations are the easier way in for visitors.

Rajaji opens on 15 November

November is when the jungle season starts again. The main tourist zones of Rajaji Tiger Reserve open to visitors on 15 November each year, Dainik Jagran reported on 18 October 2026, and Garhwal Post gave the season as 15 November to 15 June. The Jagran report said the reserve had proposed a full-day safari, including in the Chilla zone, and the forest headquarters was still deciding; nothing was confirmed when we checked. Book only through the official forest department channel, never through a link someone sends you.

Which gate to use, how the booking works, and what we would pair it with are on our Rajaji safari page. Winter migrants come to the Asan wetland west of the city in autumn, though in 2024 most arrived only in mid-November, ornithologists told ETV Bharat (Dec 2025). See our Asan Barrage birding page.

A month for working from Dehradun

If you can work from anywhere, November is the month we would pick. It almost never rains, so plans don’t fall apart, and the afternoons are warm enough to work outside. The light is the constraint: with sunset around 5:20 pm, take your walk at lunch, not after your last call.

At Fyonli Nest there is fast Wi-Fi, a desk, and a courtyard that catches the morning sun, which is where a November morning coffee belongs. There is a full kitchen if you’d rather cook, and a pahadi breakfast on request: mandua roti, aloo and seasonal fruit, ₹350 per guest per morning, if you tell us the night before. There are heaters in winter; ask us about them when you send your dates. For a month or more, read about long stays, or see the rooms and check your dates.

What we’d skip in November

• Chasing snow. November is not the month for it. If snow is the point, read our snow near Dehradun page and look at January instead.
• Driving the hills after dark. The light goes early. Leave the hills by mid-afternoon, and before you set off, check closures with our guide to roads and weather.
• Fixing everything for a weekend. The Diwali weekend (Friday 29 to Sunday 31 October 2027) ends just as November begins, and Guru Nanak’s Birthday falls on Sunday 14 November. If you can, come mid-week.

Sources: IMD climatological table, Dehradun (1991–2020); IMD Meteorological Centre Dehradun: extreme weather events in November; IMD Meteorological Centre Dehradun: forecasts and warnings; Sunrise-Sunset.org: Dehradun, November 2027; Drik Panchang: Prabodhini Ekadashi 2027; Dainik Jagran (24 Dec 2025): Uttarakhand’s 2026 public holidays; CGEWCC Dehradun: central government holidays 2027 (via StaffNews); Times of India (2 Nov 2025): Igas Bagwal celebrated across Uttarakhand; Times of India (1 Nov 2025): Igas celebrations; Dainik Jagran (18 Oct 2026): Corbett and Rajaji full-day safari plan; Garhwal Post (Oct 2025): Rajaji reopens 15 November; ETV Bharat (18 Dec 2025): late arrivals at Asan wetland. All checked 1 November 2026.