Climate The climate is hot throughout the year except the rainy seasons. During summer(March to June), the temperature can reach above and in winters(October to February) it can drop to around . The nights are very cold during winter and fog is very common in this season. The annual average rainfall in Lakhimpur Kheri is , mostly in the monsoon months (July to September). Rivers Several rivers flow across Lakhimpur. Some of these are Sharda, Ghagra, Koriyala, Ull, Sarayan, Chauka, Gomti, Kathana, Sarayu and Mohana. Sharda Barrage The Lower Sharda Barrage is constructed on the Sharda River, about downstream of the Upper Sharda Barrage, and nearly from Lakhimpur city. This project is part of the Sharda Sahayak Pariyojana (SSP) and primarily depends on water diverted from the Karnali (Ghaghra) at Girjapur through the Sharda Sahayak link canal of length for over eight months in the year during the lean season; but it indents on Sharda supplies during the monsoon between July and October when the Karnali carries a lot of silt. The SSP aims at irrigating culturable command area (CCA) of 16,770 km2 with 70 per cent irrigation intensity. The long feeder channel of SSP takes off from the right bank of Sharda Barrage with discharge of 650 m3/s. Supplies are then fed into the different branches of the Sharda canal system, namely, the Daryabad branch, the Barabanki branch, the Haidergarh branch, the Rae Bareli branch and the Purva branch. SSP provides protective canal irrigation for cultivable area of 2 m ha to lakhs of farmers in 150 development blocks of 16 districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The project was commissioned in 1974, and completed in 2000 with an estimated cost of 1300 crore rupees( 13,00,00,00,000). Flora and fauna Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Lakhimpur Kheri has two core areas, Dudhwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, which were merged in 1987. Dudhwa National Park is known as the first National Park of the state after the formation of Uttarakhand and is a national protected area. It is home to many rare and endangered species including tigers, leopards, rhinoceros, hispid hare, elephants, black deer and swamp deer. Dudhwa has approximately 400 species of birds including egrets, cormorants, herons and several species of duck, goose and teal. Its swamps and lakes are particularly attractive to water birds, including varieties that migrate here from the Himalayas to spend the winter months. Bird watching