–CLIMATE

Mechanism of Monsoons &

Seasons
 Mechanism Of Monsoon
► Monsoons are periodic winds which change their direction LP
► In summers they blow from sea to land due to a low pressure on land and
high pressure on the sea
► As they blow from sea, they are leaden with moisture and bring heavy rain.
► These are the South West Monsoon Winds.as they blow from SW
► In winters the land has a low temperature and high pressure while sea is
warm and has a low pressure, so winds blow from land to sea. HP HP
► They are dry and cold winds
► These are the prevailing winds over India –North East Trade Winds
► Most of the country remains dry.
HP
► Only Tamil Nadu Coast receives rain as these dry winds pick up moisture
from the Bay of Bengal before reaching the Tamil Nadu Coast.

LP LP
 Which winds blow as South West
Monsoon Winds?
► South East Trade Winds
► In summers due to the intense heating of the
northern hemisphere the pressure belts shift
northwards.
► The Thermal Equator or Inter Tropical
North East Trade Winds
Convergence Zone ITCZ lies north of 00 Equator (
Low Pressure Belt where SE and NE trade winds
Converge)
► The South East Trade Winds cross the Equator and South East Trade Winds
are attracted by the Low Pressure in India.
► As per the ferrals law of deflection of winds, winds SE TRADE
will blow to the right in the northern hemisphere.
Therefore the South East Trade Winds turn to the SE Trade winds deflect as SW after crossing
right and blow as south west monsoon winds. ITCZ = Corriolis force caused by earth’s
rotational speed very high at Equator (pic1)

WHAT IS CORRIOLIS FORCE?WHAT IS ITS ROLE IN INDIAN

Cycle of Seasons

Climate of the Indian Sub- Continent is

characterised by Seasons-
► 1- Cold Weather Season- The Winter Season
► 2- Hot Weather Season- The Summer Season
► 3- The Period of South West Monsoon- The Rainy
Season
► 4-The Season of Retreating Monsoon
Cold Weather Season or
The Winter Season
► Duration- in North India: Mid November to End of March
In Southern India- December to February
► Temperature-
► January coldest month FOG and SMOG are common in northern plains
due to the settling of the cold air mass and no
► Temperature may be very low in northern India, while winter is not wind.
clearly marked in the peninsular region.
► is low(below 210 C in Northern India due to higher latitude and distance
from the sea
► In Thiruvananthapuram average temperature is 310 C as it is close to
equator and the Sea.
► Large diurnal range of Temperature- days are warm nights are cold.
► Pressure and Winds-
► High Pressure over land and low pressure over the sea
► North East Trade winds blow from land to sea and are cold and dry winds
► Due to shifting of pressure belts to the south North Western India comes
under the influence of westerlies which bring temperate cyclones from Snow fall in the Himalayas due to western
Mediterranean sea
disturbances
1- Cold Weather Season- The Winter
Season WINTER RAINFALL IN INDIA

► Rainfall-
Western
► North western India receives Disturbances
temperate cyclones called western
disturbances .
► They give light rain which is good for
Rabi crops such as wheat and
mustard.
► Coromandel Coast in Tamil Nadu
receives rain from North East Trade
Winds
North East Trade
► This is winter monsoon for Tamil Nadu.
Winds
► Rest of the country is dry as Trade winds
blow from land to sea in this season
Hot Weather Season or The Summer
Season
► Duration- April –May
► Temperature-
► After 21st March Southern India starts becoming warm ,however due to the
influence of the Sea and altitude (as it is a plateau) temperature never vary
between 26-30 0 C.
► By May it becomes very hot and dry and local thunderstorms bring down the
temperature.
► In Northern India temperatures rise to 41-45 0 C due to distance from the sea
and low altitude.
► Western region of Rajasthan and Gujrat may experience temperature of
47-480 C
► The Himalayan range has lower temperatures due to altitude and are
attractive tourist destinations.
► Range of temperature is large.
Hot Weather Season- The Summer
Season ► Pressure and winds-

► Due to very high temperature in Rajasthan a low pressure starts

developing by the month of May.
► Difference in the pressure of land and sea starts increasing
► North East Trade winds become weak
► Local winds become important
► Loo- strong hot dry winds blow during the day over western
and north western India, they can cause sun stroke and may
prove fatal.
► Mango Showers- Local convectional thunder showers in
Karnataka and Kerala which help in the early ripening of
mangoes.
► Nor Westers or Kalbaisakhi or Bardoli Chheerha in Assam-
They are tropical storms in West Bengal and Assam which
can cause lot of destruction. They can be beneficial for rice,
jute and tea cultivation.
► Dust Storms- In North Western India to strong low pressure
and high temperature lead to dust storms in the evening
which bring some respite from the heat as they are
accompanied by hail and rain.
The Period of South West Monsoon or
The Rainy Season
► Duration – June to September

► Due to the development of a strong low pressure in northern and north western India in
May the south east trade winds cross the equator and blow towards India .
► They blow from the south west over Indian Ocean and are called South West Monsoon
Winds
► Due to the peninsular shape of India they bifurcate into –
► Arabian Sea Branch
► Bay Of Bengal Branch
Arabian Sea Branch
It blows with full force towards Indian Peninsula
It is three times stronger than Bay Of Bengal Branch
It gives heavy rainfall to the wind ward western
side of Western Ghats.
Leeward side is a rain shadow area
It blows over Rajasthan without giving any rainfall
as-
Aravali Hills are parallel to the Arabian Sea
Branch.
Thar desert is too hot and therefore do not
help in condensation.
A part of this branch moves through the Narmada
, Tapi Trough and gives rain to central India.
After crossing western India this branch gives
heavy rain to Western Himalayas.
Bay of Bengal Branch
This branch blows towards Myanmar , parallel to the
eastern coast.

It does not give rain to Tamil Nadu as it is not in the

path of the branch.

On reaching Myanmar it turns westdue to

Purvanchals and Arakan Yoma Range.

It than flows west ward over the northern plains

giving heavy rain to
Windward side of Meghalaya Hills
Assam Valley
Foot hills of Eastern Himalayas receive heavy
rain
Rainfall decreases from east to west so Kolkata
gets more rain than Agra

Western Rajasthan –Thar is unable to get rain from

this branch as it is devoid of moisture .
Characteristic of monsoon rainfall
► Monsoons arrive with loud thunder , lightning, heavy downpour after the hot
dry season this is called the BURST OF MONSOON
► Kanyakumari is the first to see the arrival of monsoon on 1 st June it takes one
month to cover the country- Punjab receives monsoons on 1st July and
► Monsoon rainfall comes as tropical cyclones and is not continuous and there
are breaks in monsoons.
► Monsoon rainfall is erratic and unreliable as Rain may vary from year to year
► It is not uniformly distributed some places get over 400 cm and other only 25
cm eg T har desert
► It may arrive early or late.
 Fani

Retreating Monsoon
► Duration – October and November
► Temperature-
► Due to the movement of the vertical sun to the southern hemisphere northern India
starts cooling down
► Day temperature rises as the sky clears up
► In peninsular India as the humidity is high, the weather becomes oppressive and it is
called October heat
► Diurnal range of temperature increases Hud Hud
► Pressure and winds -
► The low pressure starts shifting from western India to the Head of Bay Of Bengal
► It develops into strong tropical storms called Cyclones and cause devastation on the
eastern coast and sometimes western coast.eg- Hud Hud, Fani, Orissa Cyclone.
► Rainfall-
► Cyclonic storms along the east coast.
► Kerala is the last to see the departure of Monsoon
► It takes two months for the monsoons to withdraw from India.
 Distribution
of Rainfall
in India

Why?
Indian rainfall regime shows
uneven spatial distribution
Why ?
Rainfall amount decreases from
South to North & East to west
►Thank You