Added: 03/01/2006 |
Indian Climate - Monsoons!Being one of the most amazing and startling countries of Asia, India can provide you with extremely unforgettable impressions and experiences. One thing must be taken into consideration when traveling - Indian climate. Due to the enormous territories, Indian climate considerably differs in different regions of the country.
India has three distinct seasons (autumn and spring don't occur throughout the country):
•Winter - from November to March.
•Summer - from March to June.
•Rainy - from June to October.
Autumn and spring seasons occur only in the Himalayan states: Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir. and Sikkim. These regions have moderate seasons, and experience 5 of them annually.
Winter begins after September when the temperature gradually falls. December and January are considered to be the coldest months, with average temperatures of 10 to 15°C in the northwest and the Himalayan region. Moving east and south, the mean temperatures increase and can be between 20 to 25°C.
Northwest India's October and November are cloudless, and the least dusty months in the year, with feeble winds. The variety of diurnal temperatures during this period is considerable. Daily temperatures ranges between 16 to 20°C in northwestern India, while it is nearly 5°C lower in central India, and 10°C lower on the coastal strip. It doesn't snow in Northern India, except for the mountains. The temperature in the plains seldom falls below freezing, but further to north, in the Punjab-region, it falls up to -6°C in the plains.
Indian climate in east is much more clement, with mild days and cool nights. Daily temperature ranges from 17 to 21°C, while night's average temperature is almost 9°C.
In southern India, the weather is cooler, but only in the central part of the Indian plateau. Interior areas' temperature can fall to about 16°C, while coastal areas, and low-level interior territories, are warm with highs of 30°C and lows of 21°C.
Summer in northwestern India lasts from April to June and, in the rest of the country, from March to June. April is the hottest month for the western and southern regions, while for the northern regions it is May. The average temperature for most of the interior areas of India is from 32°C to 40°C. Near the coast the temperature is around 36°C. In southern India, the temperatures are higher on the east coast by a few degrees compared to the west coast.
The most powerful condition affecting the temperature is altitude, and the Himalayan and Nilgiri hill stations offer some breathing space from the heat with a temperate high of 25°C.
Except for these seasons, there is one more natural phenomenon that is treated in India as a separate season. Indian climate is full of monsoons, and they are usually referred as the rainy season. But, what is a monsoon?
A monsoon is a seasonal shift in the prevailing wind direction that usually brings with it a different kind of weather. The most famous monsoon is the Indian summer monsoon. In May and June of each year, the dry northerly wind flow over India changes direction, and warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean flows from the south, gradually overspreading the Indian subcontinent. Widespread torrential rains, and even severe thunderstorms, accompany the "rush" of the monsoon.
Some of the facts about monsoons are temperatures, wind speeds, and rainfall. The average temperature of a monsoon is 47°C. The average wind speed is 47km/h. The average rainfall during a monsoon is 99%. During a monsoon, the wind speed is very high.
If you ask what the consequences of such a monsoon are, I can tell you for sure that the monsoons come as a relief from the heat and parched landscape. The rains bring down the temperature, and make the surroundings lush and green. "With its life-giving rain and its wild storms, the monsoon is a mixed blessing: whimsical, unpredictable and unmistakably Indian," says Shantipriya, a famous Indian short story author.
Many Indians fear the monsoon's deadly floods, which regularly sweep away unlucky communities. But for farmers, it is a pledge of success. Indeed, without the monsoon's storms, which can deliver up to 99% of a year's rainfall, almost a billion people would go hungry.
There are several types of monsoons in India:
The southwest monsoons supply over 80% of India's annual rainfall. There are two branches to the monsoon, the Bay of Bengal branch and the Arabian Sea branch. The Arabian Sea branch is approximately three times stronger than the Bay of Bengal branch. The monsoon makes its presence felt by the end of May. The Bay of Bengal monsoon moves in a northwest direction, whereas the Arabian Sea monsoon moves north-northeast. By the first week of July, the entire country goes through rain. But, usually, southern India receives more rainfall than northern India. By October, the southwest monsoons have completely withdrawn from India.
The northeast monsoons begin by November. Supplying 20% of India's rainfall, they don't cover the entire country, but only the states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Meghalaya. Cold mountain air, traveling along the Brahmaputra River, brings rain to the northeast region of India.
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