5. CLIMATE Climate is an important element of the physical environment which affects the economic, social and cultural activities of man, In a developing country like India climatic characteristics have their bearing, ‘on the economic pattern, way of life, mode of living, food preferences, costumes and even the behavioural responses of the people. In India despite a lot of scientific and technological developments our dependence on monsoon rainfall for carrying out successful agricultural activities, has not been averted. Similarly vegetarianism, loose constumes with head gear, courtyard with wide verandahs in houses, festivals and rituals all have been adjusted to the climatic and weather conditions. The climate of India broadly belongs to the ‘tropical monsoon type’. Although the Tropic of Cancer divides India into tropical and temperate zones, but large size of the country, topographical conditions (impact of the Himalayas) and the effects of the Indian Ocean highlight climatic variations at sub regional and micro level. §.1. SALIENT FEATURES, Following are the salient features of the Indian climate: Reversal of Winds The Indian climate is characterised by the complete reversal of wind system with the change of season i a year, During the winter season winds generally blow from north-east to south-west (land to sea) in the direction of trade winds. These winds are dry, devoid of moisture and are characterised by low temperature and high pressure conditions over the country. During summer season complete reversal in the direction of the winds is observed and these blow primarily from south-west to north-east (sea to land), At places temperature shoots upto 50°C generating low pressure conditions. The last part of the summer is characierised with relative humidity and rainfall Formation of Alternatively High and Low Pressure Areas over the Land As in case of wind system there is change in the atmospheric pressure conditions with the change of season. During winter season due to low temperature conditions high pressure area is formed over the northern part (Kashmir and the Punjab) of the country. On the other hand the intense heating of the land during summer season leads to the formation of a thermally induced low pressure cell over the north-western part of the country. These pressure areas with opposite pressure conditions over the neighbouring ocean control the direction, intensity and flow of resultant wind systems in respective seasons, That is why winds are generally dry and offshore during winter and moist and onshore during, summer. Seasonal and Variable Rainfall The third characteristic of the Indian climate is related to the seasonality and variability of rainfall. In India over 80 per cent of annual rainfall is obtained in the latter part of the summer (called rainy season) whose duration ranges from 1 to 5 months in different parts of the country. Since the rainfall is in the form of. heavy downpour it creates problems of floods and soil erosion. There is great variability in rainfall so far time and place are concerned. Some times there is continuous rain for many days and sometimes there is a long spell of dry period. ‘In a quinquennium generally one year gets the normal amount, two receive lesser and the other two higher amounts’ (Singh, J., 1994, p. 61). Also there is considerable spatial variation in the general distribution of rainfall ‘Cherrapunji receives 1080 cm over the year, while Jaisalmer gets less than 12 em. Plurality of Seasons The Indian climate is characterised by constantly changing weather conditions. Although there are three broad seasons (winter, summer and rainy) but on micro level their number goes to six ina100 year (winter, fall of winter, spring, summer, rainy and autumn). Amongst these spring and autumn are called “weaker season’ and their duration may be reduced from 3 to 6 weeks depending upon the intensity of the approaching or the receding seasons. This plorality of season denotes the quickly changing conditions of the Indian weather. So much so that weather of every succeeding day is some what different from the preceding day. Characterised by Natural Calamities Due to high variability of rainfall Indian climate is characterised by natural calamities like floods, droughts, famines and even epidemics. Continuous heavy down pour may cause devastating floods while the failure of rain leads to severe drought conditions. Although under planned development intensity of these natural calamities has been reduced but these still affect the life and destiny of the common people. In fact Indian climate is so varied and complex that it denotes climatic extremes and climatic varieties. While it provides enough heat to grow crops throughout the year and carry on agricultural is all over the country it also helps in the cultivation of a number of crops belonging to tropical, temperate as well as frigid areas. We have three different cropping seasons (Rabi, Kharif and Zaid) and hundreds of varieties of crops. 5.2. ORIGIN OF MONSOON The word ‘monsoon’ is derived from the Arabic, ‘word ‘mausim’ or the Malayan word ‘monsin’ meaning season. It was first used by the Arabian sailors for the winds blowing in the Arabian sea which changed in their direction with the change of season, i.e. in winter from north-east to south-west and in summer from south-west to north-east. Chang-Chia-Ch’ eng, has given following definition : “Monsoon is a flow pattern of the general atmospheric circulation over a wide geographical area, in which there is a clearly dominant wind in one direction, but this direction is reversed (or almost reversed) from winter to summer ‘and from summer to winter.” According to Nieuwolt (1977), “The word monsoon is used only for wind system where the seasonal reversal is pronounced and exceeds a minimum number of degrees (120 degrees).” GEOGRAPHY OF INDj, Monsoon is a complex climatologicg phenomenon. As researches are progressing due ty greater availablity of upper air data its complexity ig increasing, So much so that its accurate prediction ig still iMluding the scientists. GIB. Cressey has rightly observed, “it has been well said that although every school boy understands the Indian monsoon, the official meteorological department is still in doubt ag regards its origin.” Following is an account of some of the views throwing light on the origin of the Indian monsoon. 5.2.1. Thermal Concept This is also called ‘Classical Theory’ presented by Hally in 1686 to explain the origin of the Asiatic monsoon. According to this concept Monsoons are land and sea breezes on gigantic scale produced by the differential seasonal heating of continental and oceanic areas. During northern winters (winter solstice) when sun’s rays fall vertically over the Tropic of Capricorn the huge landmass of Asia cools more rapidly than the surrounding oceans with the result that a strong high pressure centre is developed near Lake Baikal and Peshawar. On the other hand low pressure centre is formed in the southern Indian ocean. Hence there is an outflow of air from the high pressure land areas to the low pressure ocean areas resulting into north-east monsoon (Fig. 5.1) which is dry and devoid of moisture. During summer season the temperature and pressure conditions are reversed. At the time of summer solstice the Sun’s noon rays fall vertically over the Tropic of Cancer and the huge landmass of Asia is heated forming low pressure area over the land. The poleward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone over southern Asia also reinforces this low pressure centre, Because of the presence of the Himalayas the low pressure centre is bifurcated into two parts; (a) neaf Baikal lake, and (b) near north- west India, Conversely high pressure centre is developed in the southern Indian Ocean. The surface air flow is, therefore, from the highs over the oceans towards the lows over the heated land. Due to the intensity of the low pressure even winds from the southern Indian Ocean from the neighbourhood of Australia are pulled towards this low. These south- east trade winds while crossing the equator are101 Winds nearthe earths surface Fig. 5.1 : Winter Monsoon (after Nieuw) deflected towards right hand side (Ferrel’s law) and Since these are onshore moist winds they produce become south-west monsoon over the northern rainfall wherever obstructed by topographical Indian Ocean and the Indian subcontinent (Fig, 5.2). _ barriers. Winds near the & Winds at earth's surface 700mb “ett seeae Convergence zones Fig. 5.2 : Summer Monsoon (after Nieuwolt),‘The thermal concept of monsoon as proposed ‘by Eximund Malley was supported by a number of ‘scholars like Anget, Hann, Koppen, Byers and Miller. ‘But modern climatologists express doubt about the thermal origin of high (winter) and low (summer) pressure areas over the land, According to them the winter high is the outcome of the anticyclonic conditions prevailing over this region due to the presence of southem jet. Similarly summer lows are due to tropical cyclones formed along the N.LT.C. ‘Moder researches have shown that monsoon rains ‘are not wholly orographical instead itis a combination of all the three types : orographical, cyclonic and convectional.. 5.2.2. Dynamic Concept ‘This concept was proposed by Flohn in 1951. According to him monsoon is only the seasonal migration of planetary wind and pressure belts following the sun, During summer solstice sun’s noon, rays fall vertically over the Tropic of Cancer. ‘Consequently all wind and pressure belts of the globe GEOGRAPHY OF Wy shift towards the north. In these days the ‘ inter tropical convergence (ITC oF Dold ot ot northward and its northern boundary (Niner extentend upto 30° N. Latitude in South ang on ia East Asia (Fig.5.3). This process is further acceler 's by excessive ground heating of the sub-continen Due to this shifting major part of the Inq: subcontinent comes under the impact of equator westerles (blowing in doldrums) which ate cafey south-west monsoon. Since NITC is associated wig tropical disturbances these also dominate the surfagg Weather. During winter season due to southwarg shifting of pressure and wind belts the planet, system of north-east trade winds is reestablished over the region, These are called north-east winter monsoons which are generally dry and devoid of rains. Indian Thus Flohn ascribes the origin of monsoon to the thermal response of the tropical continental at. mosphere to the annual variation of solar radiation, However, he seems to have ignored the upper ro 120) E180 E rao 90" {120 160° 180" Fig. 9.3 : Intertropical Convergence (NITC and SITC). atmospheric circulation which makes the Asiatic monsoon a fairly complex system (Lal, D.S., 1986,pp.119-120). 5.2.3. Recent Concepts Recent concepts of Monsoon are based on the findings of researches conducted after 1950 using meteorological data from the upper atmosphere and their computer based analysis. These concepts mainly analyse the role of jet streams, Tibet Plateau and in the origin of Indian Monsoon 1, Jet Streams Jet streams, discovered during the Second World War, are high altitude (9000-12000 metres) westerly winds blowing between middle latitudes (summer 35°N-45°N; winter 20°N-35°N in northern hemisphere) with high speed (300-500 km/hr) in a meandering course. Recent observations have shown that these winds exert considerable impact on surface weather conditions. During winter season the upper air westerly jet streams are positioned in Asia at theSrismectcre Moat | Fig. 5.4 : Jet Stream during Winter and Summer Seasons. height of 12 km in the troposphere. These jet streams are bifurcated in two branches due to obstruction caused by the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau (Fig. 5.4.A). The northern branch blows from west to east in arcuate shape to the north of the Himalayas, and the Tibetan Plateau, while the southern branch to the south of the mighty mountains. This southern branch follows a path which inscribes an anticyclonic (clockwise) arc across Afghanistan followed by a cyclonic (anticlockwise) arc along the southern flank of the Himalayas. A high’ pressure system is formed south of the jet-stream over Afghanistan and north- west Pakistan from which air tends to subside over India leading to atmospheric stability and dry conditions and causing the flow of north-east winter monsoons. The jet stream also helps western disturbances to enter the sub-continent and affect 103 its weatlte;?Sharp cold rain-storms form towering clouds and a drop in temperature accompany the passage of such disturbances. Their average frequency is 4to 8 storms per month between October and April limiting their impact upto Patna in the east. During summer season as sun falls vertically ‘over the Tropic of Cancer the polar surface high pressure is weakened and upper-air circum-polar whirl shifts northward as a result of which the upper-air westerly jet streams are also withdrawn from southern slopes of the Himalayas and shift north-ward (Fig.5.4.B). By 6-10 June the southern branch of the jet-streams disappears from the southern flank of the Himalayas making room for the equatorial westerlies to occupy the Indian sub-continent. The removal of the jet-stream to north of the Tibetan Plateau (Fig.5.4.B) leads to a reversal of the curvature of flow of free air to the north and north-west of the sub- continent. Over northern Iran and Afghanistan the trajectory of free air takes on a cyclonic curve (anticlockwise), leading to a dynamic depression aloft where previously there was an anticyclone. Here, then to the north-west of Indo-Pakistan there develops a dynamic depression overlying the thermal depression already established at the surface, which triggers off the ‘burst’ of the monsoon, allowing the vigorous inflow of equatorial air deep into Indi So long as the position of upper-air jet-steams is maintained above the surface low pressure (south of the Himalayas), the dynamic cyclonic conditions persist over Afghanistan, north-west Pakistan and north-west India. The winds descending from the upper air high pressure obstruct the ascent of winds from the surface low pressure, with the result the weather remains warm and dry. This is why the months of April and May are dry inspite of high temperature and evaporation. Contrary to it, upper air low pressure is formed to the east of the Himalayas as a result of which the winds coming from southern Myanmar are forced to ascend and produce rainfall in Myanmar, ‘Assam and Bangladesh. It may be remember 4 that during northern summer there is winter season in ux “southern hemisphere. Hence, the southern polar whirl (jet) is more developed and is stretched upto the equator. This pushes the intertropical convergence (ITC) and the south-eastern trade winds to cross over the103 ‘equator and take south-westerly direction due to Coriolis force. The well-known ‘pulsations’ in the ‘monsoon weather are due to waves of dynamic origin {not frontal cyclones associated with the polar front) which develop in the ITC. These waves after coming ‘over India become cyclone vortices which cause summer monsoon rains in the country. While the development of cyclonic vortices is related to the wet weather their occlusion produces dry weather which continues till new vortices are formed. 2. Tibet Plateau In 1973, the Monsoon Expedition (Monex) was ‘organized under the joint auspices of the former Soviet Union and India in which 4 Russian and 2 Indian ships equipped with modern scientific instruments collected weather data from the Indian Ocean and the Arabian sea between May to July, 1973. By the analysis of these data the Soviet meteorologists came to the conclusion that Tibet Highland plays a dominant role in the origin of Indian Monsoon. It is worth mentioning here that in 1958 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA itself Dr. P. Koteswaram, Director General of Indian Observatories, in an international symposium on “the Monsoons of the World” opined that summertime heating of Tibet Plateau was the most important factor in the causation and maintenance of monsoonal circulation over India. ‘The Tibet Plateau is 600 km wide in the west ‘and 1000 km wide in the east. It has average length of 2000 km and height between 4000-5000 m. Due to its, protruded height it receives 2-3°C more insolation than the neighbouring areas. The plateau affects the atmosphere in two ways : (a) as a mechanical barrier, and (b) as a high-level heat sources. According to Maung Tun Yin the Tibet Plateau acts as a mechanical barrier. At the beginning of June the substropical jet stream is completely withdrawn from India and occupies a position along 40°N. He has searched out ‘a correlation between the shifting of the Jet and the slowing down of the westerlies over the Eurasia. In fact the Plateau accentuates the northward displacement of the jet stream. Hence the burst of Fig, 5.5 = Meridional Profile of the Indian Summer Monsoon monsoon in June is prompted by the hydrodynamic effect of the Himalayas and not by the thermally induced low pressure cell. In the middle of October the plateau also helps in causing the advance of the jet south of the Himalayas or bifurcating it into two parts. ‘The summer-time heating of the Tibetan Plateau makes it a high-level heat source which produces a thermal anticyclone over this region. This high in mid troposphere at 500 mb level caused by dynamic anticyclogenesis not only weakens the western subtropical jet stream south of the Himalayas but produces tropical easterly jet on the southern side of the anticyclone. This easterly jet first develops in longitudes east of India and then extends westwards across India and the Arabian Sea to eastern Africa. Blowing along Kolkata-Bengaluru axis the air under this jet descends over the Indian Ocean and intensifies its high pressure cell so as to finally move as south-west monsoon. The data collected under Monex support that highter the intensity of the tropical easterly jet greater would be potency of the high pressure cell over the Indian Ocean and stronger would be the south-west monsoon. Fig.5.5 exhibits the meridional cross-section of the westerly and easterly jet streams and their relationship with the Tibetan Plateau. R. Frost does not agree with Koteswaram. According to him the onset of monsoona ee CLIMATE precedes the displacement of jet stream rather than suoceeds it. He is convinced that the breakdown of, the lower tropopause boundary brought about by intense insolational heating of the atmosphere below the 200 mb level, and the advectional or dynamic cooling of the air above it are mainly responsible for the onset of the monsoon over the Indian-sub- continent, In October the conditions are reversed. The middle and upper tropospheric anticyclone over Tibet integrates and the tropical easterly jet becomes non-existent. The subtropical westerly jet stream is re-established over the northern India and the north- east monsoon sets in. 3. Ocean Bodies Here meteorologists have tried to find out relationship between Indian Monsoon and El Nino, Southern Oscillation, Walker Cell and the Somali Ocean current. EI Nino meaning Christ’ is a warm ocean current appearing along the Peru coast in December. ae 105 It replaces the Peru or Humboldt (La Nina = female child), cold ocean current flowing over this region in normal years. Under normal conditions the water layer over the easter Pacific (Peru and Ecuador) is cool and shallow, while over the western Pacific (Indonesia and western Australia) itis warm and deep. Such conditions are helpful for strong south-west monsoons. The appearance of El Nino called “EI Nino anomaly, reverses the condition (warm condition over ‘eastern Pacific and cold in western Pacific). This leads to weak monsoon characterised with deficient rainfall and droughts. : “The Southern Oscillation is the name ascribed to a seesaw pattern of meteorological changes that are often observed between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, Ithas been noticed that whenever the surface pressure is high over the Pacific, the pressures over the Indian Ocean is low, and vice-versa. This oscillation was discovered by Sir Gilbert Walker, the first director general of Indian meteorological service, in 1924” (Das, P.K., 1988, p- 257). The intensity of the Southern Oscillation (SOI) is measured by the ZOE 40" ar BO" 100" 120" 140" 100" 180" | Indian Ooean te | Darwin YR Pile Walker Cells > Normal Year => Abnormal Year i 80° 100" 120° 0" 180" 160" 140" 120" 100" 80" eo" 160" 140" 120" 100" 20°W. 0° E20" i eo" , 40" wo Wor Ea Fig. 5.6 : Walker Cells, Solid arrows indicate normal year. Dotted arrows indicate abnormal year. Note the east-ward shift in an abnormal year.106 difference in sea level Pressures of Tahiti (18°S, 149° W),a station in the mid-Pacific, and Port Darwin (122 S, 130°E), representative station of the Indian Ocean (FES). The oscillation has a period varying from 2- 7 years. High pressure near Tahiti and low pressure ‘ear Port Darwin in the winter months (positive SOl) leads to good monsoon rains in India. A negative Nalue of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) implies higher pressure near Port Darwin and a poor or indifferent monsoon (Das, PK., 1990, p.46). There is lose relationship between the appearance of the El Nino and the negative SOI. This low or a negative Phase of the SOI in combination with an EI Nino is called an ENSO event. GEOGRAPHY OF | INDIA The Southern Oscillation is closely linked with the Walker Circulation (named after Sir Gilbert Walker). Meteorological observations indicate that the cieulation of ar over the tropics is dominated by {two gigantic cells, The first is known as a Hadley Ce}y which is formed by surface trade winds and upper air anti trades and is oriented in north-south direction, During the summer monsoon its ascending limb is over the plateau of Tibet. This ascending air from Tibet moves southwards as tropical easterly jet and eventually descends over the Indian Ocean. The second cell is known as the Walker-Cell which is oriented in east-west direction. Its ascending and desending limbs are closely linked to sea surface SOE Fig. 5.7: The Somali Current and Gyre.Pome CLIMATE temperatures (SST), In general temperatures at the surface of the sea are usually cool in regions of descending motion (Peru coast), while they are warm in zones of ascent (Indonesia-Australia coast). This leads to : (a) a cold Humboldt current and upwelling off the Peru coast, (b) strong trade winds, (c) accumulation of water in the western Pacific which is balanced by the equatorial counter current and under current, (d) a rise in the depth of the thermocline as ‘we proceed from the east to the western half of the Pacific, and (¢) normal south west monsoon. During El Nino effect or negative SOI the descending limbs of Walker Cell are moved eastward. As upwelling off the South American coast decreases, the sea surface temperature rises. This leads to weaker trade winds, less accumulation of water on the western half of the Pacific, weakening of the equatorial under current, heavy rain and floods along the South American coast, and poor monsoon over India. During this time a larger area over India now becomes a zone of descent, rather than ascent leading to poor monsoon and drought conditions. 4, The Somali Current The Somali current is one of the few warm ocean currents which reverses its direction in sympathy with the overlying wind. The current is made up of two gyres : (a) northern gyre between 5° and 9°N latitudes, and (b) southern gyre between the equator and 4°N latitudes [Fig.5.7]. As the summer monsoon sets in over India, the southern gyre begins to move northwards and finally the two gyres coalesce. But in some years instead of coalescence the northern gyre just moves away. Also the southern gyre is more prominent in years of good monsoon, while in years of weak monsoon it is either weak or absent. The area lying between these two gyres is in the form of a wedge and region of intense upwelling. This leads to thermal anomaly between the coast of Somalia (June, 15°C) and Mumbai (30°C). This gradient of temperature influences the radiation balance of the monsoon air (Das, P-K., 1990, p. 15)- 5. Radon over the Arabian Sea Recently the study of the availability of radon ‘over the Indian Ocean area signifies continental origin of the Indian monsoon. Radon and thoron are substances which ae added to the surface soil by the 107 distintegration of uranium and thorium, These are found in higher quantity over the atmosphere of the land bodies than over the oceans. The Soviet exploration ship U.M. Shokalskii in July, 1960 discovered 10 times higher quantity of radon over the Arabian Sea than over the Indian Ocean south of ‘equator. This enabled Dr. Rama and his associates to conclude that the monsoon has its origin in the regions of the Arabian Sea and the Middle East. But the continental origin of monsoon may pose many problems pertaining to its moisture capacity. 6. Global warming and Monsoon Scientists are examining the impact of global warming on the behaviour of Indian monsoon. According to one estimate India’s average minimum temperature will increase by 3°C upto 2040. ‘This will have adverse effect on the monsoon i.e., reducing the length of rainy season (by 15 days), increasing the uncertainty in the arrival and departure of monsoon, and accelerating the spatial disparity in rainfall (some where more than average and some where less than average). 5.2.2, MONSOON FORECAST Attempts have been made by the weather scientists to forecast Indian monsoon since last century. H.F. Blanford, the first director general of IMD made tentative forecast about the monsoon from 1882-1885 based on the amount of snowfall over the Himalayas. According to him excessive snowfall over the Himalayas is generally characterised with poor monsoon. Sir John Elliot (1888) found that climatic factors in neighbouring regions, in particular ‘Australian weather parameters, have their impact on rains in India. In 1904 Gilbert Walker revolutionized the forecasting method and included Southern Oscillation (see previous account) in forecasting. He developed a multiple regression model using 4 parameters—accumnulation of Himalayan snow at the end of May, pressure in South America during spring, pressure in Mauritius in May and rainfall in Zanzibar in April and May. Later he also added rainfall in Sri Lanka in May and SOI in spring. In 1979 V. Thapliyal introduced the ‘dynamic stochastic transfer model” which improved the accuracy to 75 per cent. Gowariker et al. (1989 & 1991), proposed a “power regression’ model using 16 parameters which108 imclude: E1 Nino (same year), E1 (Nino) previous yea, north Indian temperature (March), central India temperature (May), east coast of India temperature (March), northem hemisphere temperature (January and February), S00 h Pa ridge (April), 50 h Pa ridge ‘rough extent (January & February), 10 h Pa (30 km) Nesterly wind (Jan.), northern Hemisphere pressure, Southern Oscillation Index, Darwin Pressure (spring), Argentina pressure (April), Indian Ocean equatorial Pressure (January-May), Himalayan snow cover (Ganuary-March), and Eurasian snow cover (previous December). The Indian Meteorological Department ‘has recently developed (July, 2003) anew model using S land, ocean and wind parameters (E1 Nino previous Year—TJuly-Sept, Eurasian Snow cover—Dec., NW Europe temperature—Jan., Europe pressure gradient—Jan., 50 mb wind pattern—Jan.Feb., Arabian Sea Surface temp. Jan-Feb., East Asia Presure—Feb. Mar., S. Indian Ocean surface temp— Mar.) to predict the monsoon. The department is also developing a simulation model based on U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which is likely to be operational by 2015. GEOGRAPHY OF INpy4 6,3. WEATHER CONDITIONS For the sake of study the Indian Meteoro} Department divides the year into four distinct Seasons: (a) Cold weather season (mid-December ty mid-March, () hot dry weather season (mid-Margy to the end of May), (¢) the wet season (une ¢, September), and (A) Season of retreating monsoon (October to mid-December). logical 5.3.1. The Cold Weather Season The cold weather season begins with November in north India and by the beginning of December the whole country comes under its grip. In this season the southerly branch of the jet stream occupies jtg position south of the Himalayas indicating that once more the Northern Hemisphere polar dynamics are in command of the situation. The return of the westerly jet stream is accompanied with the restoration of north-east (monsoon) trade winds to the surface, withdrawal of the ITC, formation of anticyclonic cell ‘over north-western India, and dry weather conditions over most of the part of the country. Table 5.1 Climatic Data (Temperature 0°C, Rainfall in mm) Region No. of Station years Per (2ltitudeinm) recorded Jan. Feb. Mar. Apt. May June July Aug. Sept Oct. Nov. Dec. Year Cold Dry 1. Leh (3, 514) Ay. daily max. ame ders 16 20082594" 31 is gg Av. daily min. eee 10 10° 9 7 1 Ay. temperature PCCM So sig 17 14° gy ‘Aw. rainfall Ce Es sg ig Humid (10 wet months) 2. Shimla (2,202) Ay. daily max. ee si 19 19 171g ty Ay. daily min. 30 2 Be emt ee 1G 1s. 1g Be 74. ‘Ay. temperature Pee 9 1 iy ig 1g Ay. rainfall Pree eRe TTS 48 4 e035 251574 . Kodaikanal (2,343) ie 1 haces ius. ota saa, ‘Avcrainfall nae 1208 2F01295555122). 157,253, 237, 123,, 1664 errapuniji (1,313) ty nae NTN ai 2a, sn 9") ‘Av, daily mi Bore eM OO ASH Gals) 98... 18, 18 16,3512) .,.9)ee ‘CLIMATE, ‘Av. temperature Ay, rainfall 5, Darling (2.265) Ay. daily max, Av. daily min, 25 Ay, temperature 30 Av. rainfall 0 Humid (8-9 wet months) 6. Tezpur (79) Av. daily max. 20 AN. daily min, 19: AY, temperature Ay. rainfall 20 7. Kochi (3) Av. daily max. Ay. daily min. 4B Av. temperature Ay. rainfall oO Humid (6-7 months) 8. Kolkata (6) Av. daily max. Ay. daily min, 60 Ay, temperature Ay. rainfall 9, Marmagao (62) ‘Av. daily max. 30 Av. daily 29 Ay, temperature Ay. rainfall 30 10. Vishakhapatnam (3) Av. daily max. 45 Ay, daily min. Av. temperature Ay. rainfall 40 Humid (4-5 wet months) 11. Allahabad (98) Aw. daily max. Av. daily min. Av. temperature ‘Ay. rainfall 12. Mumbai (11) Ay. daily max. Ay. daily min Av, temperature ‘Av. rainfall 13, Nagpur (310) ‘Av. daily max. 30 0. 12 Bane 16 B 28 19 2 15 2 31 2» 2 26 28 25 B %6 n 19 15 19 a 18 2 v7 185 4 u 53 28 7 58 3 5 2» 3 4 21 28 36 31 By 2B 31 24 8 19 24 158 3 26 30 125 36 a 30 B 6 2» 18 32 26 2» 18 wZebs 24 28 15 4 19 1280 18 2 16 187 31 a 252 32 291 36 25 30 140 27 30 33 2 30 31 2 n 35 15 on w 2695 2446 18 19 34 7 «1B 52 713 2 2 2 26 9D 305 366 DD 4 B 7 2% TA 592 aah. 6% 2% 0 297 325 31, 729) 3 3 7 752. 793 3. 32 a 2% 30 104112 4033 2B 2 3430 127 320 2 w % 25 2» on na 37 Bie al 21 1781 18 4 18 5B ABRK 3 29 24 n 353 2 26 328 28 24 26 404 254 2» 4 a 290 31 Buus BRB 28 4 241 31 6 20 165 SBRs 4 a 203 32 19 16 10 15 9 30. 107 3 24 28 32. 14 24 a 31 198 2 BRS 2 28 32 16 2 il 14 31 28 im 18 30 a 33 RB 119 13 13 2 18 ERB aRBNY 4 16 31 a 3 109 11,437 2,700 1,880 3,106 1,582 2413 1,032110 Ay. daily min, 28 Ay. temperature Ay. rainfall 0 Humid (4-7 wet months) 14, Chennai (16) Av. daily max, Ay. daily min, 0 Ay. temperature Ay. rainfall Sub Humid (normal) 15. New Delhi (216) Ay. daily max. 89 Ay. daily min. 65 Ay. temperature Ay. rainfall 15 16. Bengaluru (921) Ay. daily max. 32 Av. daily min. 3 Ay. temperature Av. rainfall 0 17. Ahmadabad (55) Ay. daily max. Aw. daily min, B Av. temperature Ay. rainfall 18. Pune (559) ‘Av. daily max. Ay. daily min. 24 ‘Ay. temperature Ay. rainfall © Sub-Humid ‘Summer drought) 19. Pamban (11) Ay. daily max. Ay. daily min. ‘Ay. temperature Ay. rainfall 20. Bellary (449) Ay. daily max. Ay. daily min. ‘ay, temperature Ay. rainfall ‘Summer and winter ‘Transitional 21. Ludhiana (247) ‘Ay. temperature Ay. rainfall 0. 30 0 85 3 21 19 24 v w BRER B 35 Bee seee 24 y 18 30 co Bley 16 35 ass 33 28 31 14 13 33 18 36 19 28 36 7 a 21 29 4 3 15 vBBs Bsse 3 Py 30 39 6 33 20 ” 0 28 36 20 38 28 3 al 4 B 3B 21 ea 107 seers 7 2 30 28 3B 2 30 39 6 33 33 16 32 224 38 2 3 BERS 19 4 "4 38 n 33 109 32 B 2B 14 32 34 4 29 B 4 54 a 28 37 36 31 a 2 2 180 28 BRS 2 26 29 B 4 28 4l 31 191 28 290 35 26 31 17 SRE 173 28 19 4 127 2 25 29 206 2 26 15 32 28 6 30 1B GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 2B 2B 203 34 25 30 9 34 24 17 28 18 B 170 m4 29 29 21 135 32 6 29 28 32 B 2B 125 30 136 20 26 56 2 24 28 305 28 18 150 32 19 26 89 31 %6 29 216 32 16 B 20 29 2 26 356 27 7 2 0 u 18 26 31 15 28 29 4 0 297 31 19 5 31 12 20 13 29 2 140 29 2 21 28 m4 26 193 29 7 Is 4 1.251 1s 4 804 715 su ns——— CLIMATE 1 22. Srinagar (1587) Av. daily max. So Fual4 19 24 29 SIM Tpeanza 2) Ay. daily min. ® 2 -l a 7 ane 18) 8 12s Ay, temperature 1 4 a 13 18 2 25 “ua 8 4 Ay. rainfall oO B TR 104 B 6 36 61 6 31 2 0 % (665 Semi Arid 23. Jodhpur (224) Ay, daily max. 4 a 2 37 4 40 6 4 4 35 3 Av. daily mi B 9 Ty 16 21 26 28 aT 23 wm 1 13 10 Ay. temperature 17.419 24934 34 32s 30 Ay. rainfall SMe GIS SR Nay, P3510, 36100) et fol) IE) 3) eee Arid: 24, Jaisalmer (242) Ay. temperature 16 G19. ash d29) 34S 4iage32) al esl, 28) 22a Av. rainfall i ihadier-* las? 3 3 5 eri Ee eal oe LOG Sourees : Wemstedt, F., World Climatic Data, Climate Data Press 1972, for Jaisalmer. id Kodaikanal US Dept of Commerce, World Weather Records, 1951-60, Vol.4 Asia 1967 for Ludhiana an Great for the World, Part V: Asia, 1966, for the rem Britain, Meteorological Office, Tables of Temperature, Relative Humidity and Precipitation der. Cr) INDIA , Average Temperature (°C) (January) i Lo 3 sa, 200, 0 200, 00d WA ocean Riomere 4 ny, en) a8 9 Fig. 5.8 : Average Temperature (January).GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. m a e 2 jgounntis INDIA oy Pressure and Winds (January) 8 Beanpwusey 80" 88" Fig, 5.9 : Pressure and Surface Winds (January), ‘Temperature — During winter season there is general increase of temperature from north to south and the isotherms run almost parallel to the latitudes. The 20° isotherm for the month of January runs east- ‘west through the middle of the country connecting Kachchh in the west and the Ganga delta in the east (Fig. 5.8.). In January the north-west India—Punjab,, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan experience le$s than 15°C temperature while the average temperature is less than 10°C over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikcim (Fig. 5.8). In South India the isotherms tend to bend to the south and run parallel to the coast. The western coast is warmer than the eastern coast by about 1.7°C. The mean daily minimum temperature varies from 5°C in the north-western part of India to 240C in the Peninsula, The night temperature in the plains of the Punjab and Haryana sometimes goes below the freezing point producing ground frost condition, Such period of unusually cold weather is generally described as ‘cold wave’. The Peninsular region is much warmer (Thiruvananthapuram : Jan.. 31°C, June 29.5°C). The diurnal range of temperature is 14°C to 17°C in north-west India, with decreasing tendency towards east and the south, January is the coldest month of the season. Pressure and Winds — ‘fhe distribution of temperature has a direct bearing on atmospheric pressure which decreases from land to sea. The isobar of 1013 mb surrounding the southern tip of the Peninsula (Kerala coast) depict the lowest pressure. It goes on increasing towards the north and the west. The isobar of 1019 mb, occupying the north-western Part of the country, exhibits the high pressure cell (Fig. 5.9). The average pressure of Janauary month for Thiruvananthapuram was 1005.4 mb, ChennaiARABIAN. SEA 0 m0 400 600 | SRI parerwrenareny (um Km eZ 13 INDIA Rainfall (January) Fig, §.10 : Rainfall (January) 1013.6 mb, Bengaluru 913.1 mb, Hyderabad 954.3 mb, ‘Nagpur 981.1 mb, Lucknow 1004.5 mb, Patna 1011.5 mb and Jaipur 972.2 mb. During winter season anticyclonic conditions are found over north-western India from where winds move toward the oceanic low of the south. These ‘winds blow from north-west in north-west India, from west to east in the middle Ganga plain, from north- east to south-west in the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Peninsula. A characteristic feature of the cold weather season is the inflow of western disturbances which originate in West Asia and near the Mediterranean Sea and reach India through Pakistan ‘The westerrly jet stream plays key role in steering these disturbances into India. Their average frequency is 4 to 5 depressions per month with greater intensity between December and February. Rainfall — Winter season is usually dry. However, slight rainfall (about 5 cm) is caused in the northern India (Punjab, Haryana, northem Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and western Uttar Pradesh) by the western disturbances which are active over this area between December and February (Fig. 5.10). This rainfall, although small, is very useful for rabi crops of wheat and gram. Also there is snow fall over the hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam get about 50 mm of rainfall during these months. Similarly Cormandel coast gets some rainfall during October and November by easterly depressions of the Bay of Bengal and the presence of the Inter Tropical Convergence. 5.3.2. The Hot Dry Weather After vernal equinox the temperature begins to rise and the circumpolar whirl weakens. “Thermal heating over north-western Pakistan-India gradually establishes a thermal ‘low? at the surface but while the jet stream remains south of the Himalayas, it maintains its dynamic anticyclone aloft. This ‘lid” of subsiding warming dry air prevents the surfaceld g $ £ as Mee ean GN ecg race 4 GEOGRAPHY OF INDI, oe INDIA Mean Maximum Temperature (°C) (May) 96° 100° 26" 2 Fig. 5.11 : Mean Maximum Temperature (May). thermal ‘low’ from having sufficient effect as a lifting agent to carry air aloft and so to bring about precipitation” (Johnson, 1969, p. 17). Temperature — This is a period of continuous and rapid rise of temperature in India. By April the Peninsular regions south of the Satpura Range heat up with mean maximum temperature of 40°C. In May the mean maximum temperature reaches 42°C in Rajasthan, west U.P., Delhi, southern Punjab and Haryana (Fig, 5.11). Temperature exceeding 54°C is recorded at Ganganagar (Rajasthan). At some places, particulary in north-western India, day temperatures may be as high as 45°C or 47°C, The mean daily ‘minimum temperature during May also remains quite high and rarely goes below 26°C. The southern parts of India do not experience any hot weather season as such, The temperature is also not very high in eastern parts of the country and in the hilly regions the ‘weather is cool and invigorating, During April 30°C isotherm of average temperature encloses a vast area of the country between 10°N and 26°N latitudes (Except the west coast and the north-east). By May it covers a small area of the North East. The diurnal range of temperature ranges between $°C and 6°C in coastal areas but reaches 20°C in interior parts of the country and in the north-west. Pressure and Winds — Being a transition season between winter and rainy seasons it is characterised by unstable pressure and wind circulation. With the northward march of the sun the low pressure area also moves from south-east to north-west. It finally settles over north-western India ly part of lune. The pressure in the end of May or» oe cuIMATE generally increases towards south in the neighbouring sea. The general direction of winds is from north-west and west in north-western India, from south-west in Rajasthan and north-western Gujarat, from north-east in north-eastem India, and from north- west in the Arabian sea and adjoining coasts. The tomado like dust storms of Punjab and Haryana, the Loos of Uttar Pradesh, the norwesters (Kalbaisathis) of West Bengal and cyclonic depressions of the ‘eastern coast make the weather stormy and turbulent. Humidity and Rainfall — During summer = season the air is very dry over most of the central parts of the country where the mean relative humidity is about 30 per cent or less. In north-western parts of the country it some times reaches as low as 5 per cent. The total rainfall of the season is less than 2.5 ‘cm in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra; between 5 and 15 cm in the sub- ee 3% 30 ee 20: v J aN : LI Fea {ta ag) ao wwoun “OCEAN Kiometre fe tnin THEN BITE ots 8 100 ‘Average Temperature (°C) Ching ~20 Isotherm WS mountain region of U.P. Bihar, Odisha and Punjab; between 15 and 25 om in Malabar and over 50 em in ‘Assam. The rains caused by thunderstorms in Karnataka are called ‘cherry blossoms” where these are beneficial for coffee plantation and elsewhere in south India as ‘mango showers’. 5.3.3. The Wet Season By the end of the summer season an intens® low pressure area with ascending air currents is established over western Rajasthan. The southern branch of the Jet stream weakens and is finally withdrawn from the southern slopes of the Himalayas by mid June leading to the formation of @ dynamic depression over the surface thermal low: The irc moves further north-wards occupying a position at 250N by mid-June and allowing equatorial westerlies to gush in the sub-continent. The cyclonic vortices developed in the ITC cause rains in the country: The (6 INDIA 36 (July) a2 24 a \ 201 Bay MYANMAR, OF BENGAL \ Fig. 5.12 : Average Temperature (July).16 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA 96° 100° E 26 INDIA Pressure and Winds (July) Isobars in mb. Prevailing winds, Fig. 5.13 : Pressure and Surface Winds (July) tropical easterly jet originating due to thermal heating of Tibet intensifies Indian Ocean high pressure cell from which south-east trade winds are pushed by the Antarctic circumpolar whirl to develop as south- west monsoons. Temperature — Temperature reaches its ‘maximum in June prior to the break of the monsoons. ‘At places the day temperature reaches 46°C or more The average daily maximum temperature of June reaches 40°C at Jodhpur and Allahabad, 39° C at New Delhi, 38°C at Ahmadabad and Chennai, 37°C at Nagpur, 34°C at Bellary, 33°C at Kolkata, 32°C at Pune and Tezpur, 31°C at Marmagao, 29°C at Kochi and Sri Nagar, and 23°C at Shimla. With the onset of Monsoon this temperature declines from 1° to 7°C in July (cf. Jodhpur and New Delhi 36°C, Ahmadabad 34°C, ‘Allahabad 33°C, Kolkata 32°C, Nagpur 31°C, Marmagao, 29°C and Pune 28°C). The average temperature for the month of July is higher than 30°C in Rajasthan and plains of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Elsewhere in northern plains and Peninsular India it generally lies between 25°C and 30°C. The hill areas of the north have less than 20°C of, temperature (Fig. 5.12). The diurnal range of, temperature is not so high as observed in the months of May and June. Pressure and Winds — As a result of high temperatures in May and June, a surface thermal low, is established over north-west India (July 997 mb). Pressure from this centre increases towards south- east and south reaching 1009 mb near Kerala coast and Nicobar islands (Fig. 5.13). An elongated zone of low pressure is formed along the Indo-Ganga plains whose axis is roughly oriented from the north-west to the south-east parallel to the foot-hills of the Himalayas from Rajasthan and Saurashtra in the west to Odisha in the east. This is called ‘monsoon trough’.CLIMATE, 7 ) ‘\chandigary rs cy OF Sune BENGAL 3% £ 7 ae 54 reel m0 mo © 0g Kilometre iS ae a8 9 98 oO INDIA S Onset of South-West Monsoon ‘ 32 Md Aanagai 20" {Dispur Ce$hillongl “olphal 20° MYANMAR ne na Fig. 5.14 : Onset of South-West Monsoon. Itmoves north or southwards and plays an important role in short-term prediction of monsoon rains. The general direction of winds in this wet season is from south-west to north-east in major part of the country. However, due to the presence of the Himalayas these are south-easterly and easterly in the north-east and Ganga Plain. Onset of Monsoons — Due to the tapering of the southern Peninsula the south-west monsoon winds are bifurcated and enter the country in two ‘main currents ~the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal currents. The rains begin rather suddenly and are called ‘monsoon burst.’ The Arabian Sea current advances northwards by 1** June on the Kerala coast and reaches Mumbai by about June 10. By the mid- June it spreads over Saurashtra, Kachchh and central Parts of the country (Fig. 5.14). The Bay of Bengal current first strikes Andaman-Nicobar islands by about May, 20 and reaches Tripura and Mizoram by about June 1. It rapidly spreads over most of Assam by the first week of June and traverses westwards in the Ganga Plain parallel to the axis of the Himalayas. It reaches Kolkata by about 7 June, Patna by 11" June and Varanasi by 15" June. ‘Thereafter the two branches merge into a single current which fans out over the remaining parts of ‘western U.P., Haryana, runjab and eastern half of Rajasthan. By the end of June the Monsoon is usually established over most of the country. By the first week of July it extends into K-shmir and remaining parts of the country, but only as a feeble current. The normal duration of the south-west monsoon winds varies from two to four months. Humidity and Rainfall — During rainy season most of the country experiences good cloud cover (from 1/8 to overcast sky). In the PeninsularAs co INDIA GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA 92° 100° 36 “Rainfall ; Wet Season_ Rainfall in cm. (30-20 Fig. 5.15 : Rainfall during Rainy Season. region the cloud cover is more than 5/8 part of the sky which decreases towards north and the west. During this season the airis more humid. Except arid regions of north-western India and Kashmir the relative humidity in July over major parts of the country is more than 80 per cent. Assam and Kerala record the highest percentage of relative humidity. It is 92 per cent in Palghat, 88 in Dibrugarh, 86 in Bengaluru, 85 in Mumbai, 84 in Port Blair and Kolkata, $3 in Nagpur, 82 in Lucknow, 81 in Patna and 64 per cent in Ganganagar. The Indian sub-continent re s bulk of its rainfall (78.7%) during the south-west monsoon period (Fig. 5.15). The Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal currents of south-west monsoon carry about 7700 and 3400 billion cu. metres of moisture ti \d September of which respectively between June and Septem ‘only 2400 bem is precipitated over India, The Arabian Sea current causes rainfall all along the west coast, Western Ghats, Maharashtra, Gujarat and parts fo Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It first strikes the Western Ghats and produces heavy rainfall along the Konkan and Malabar coasts. Mangalore and Mumbai on the windward side of the Ghats get 329 cm and 188 cm of rainfall respectively. As the current crosses the Sahyadris the places on the leeward side of the Ghats receive less rainfall. (Pune 125 em, Nagpur 125 cm, Thanjavur 86 cm, Mandya 70 em and Karur 660m), Here rainfall is also erratic as @ result of which droughts are frequent in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The amount of rainfall generally. decreases from west to east in the Peninsular region. ‘The Tamil Nadu coast remains relatively dry during this period. The Arabian Sea current passing through the Narmada trough meets the Bay of Bengal current over Chota Nagpur Plateau producing copious rainfall‘CLIMATE ‘Asub-branch of the Arabian Sea current moves northwards through Kachchh, Saurashtra and syestern Rajasthan which fail to get adequate rainfall This is due to the absence of mountain barrier in Kachchh, parallel position of the Aravalli ranges (to monsoon winds), shutting effect of the hot and dry ir from Baluchistan obstructing the uplifiment of ‘monsoon winds and the absorption of the moisture by the overlying dry air, The current goes straight upto western Himalayas, where it produces appreciable rains. ‘The Bay of Bengal current first dashes against the Myanmar coast and obstructed by the eastern hills is deflected westward towards the Ganga Plain. This current is entrapped in the deep valley of the Khasi hills, which is surrounded by high hills on three sides, and causes heaviest rainfall at Cherrapunji (1087 cm) and Mawsynram (1141 cm). As much as 104 cm of rainfall was recorded on a single day (June 14, 1876). A major part of this rain falls during the moming hours, because of the interaction between different air masses. Here again leeward sides of the Meghalaya Plateau receive less rainfall (Shillong 143 cm, Guwahati 161 cm). Thence onward the monsoon current moves westwards towards the Ganga Plain parallel to the southern slopes of the Himalayas and the amount of rainfall goes on decreasing from east to west. Kolkata gets 120 cm, Patna 105 cm, Allahabad 91 cm, Delhi'56 cm, Bikaner 24 cm and Srinagar only 20 cm of rainfall between June and September. ‘The weather and rain during wet monsoon season are also affected by a number of cyclonic depressions which enter the country through Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea (Fig. 5.16). About 20 to 25 such depressions are developed during monsoon period of which some are stronger causing immense damage to the life and property of the people of the coastal areas. In 1879 the Bakarganj cyclone killed some 1,00,000 persons while in the Odisha cyclone of 1942 the death toll was 3,000 persons. The Odisha cyclone of October 29, 1971 with wind speed of 175 km/hr damaged 2.5 lakh hectares of standing crops and killed 10,000 people. The Gujarat cyclone of 9" June, 1998 caused immense damage to Kandla port killing over 1,500 persons in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The super cyclone of October 29, 1999 with wind speed of nearly 300 km/h left behind a trail of death 19 > Winter —> summer Fig. 5.16 : Winter and Summer Cyclones. and devastation in Odisha in which more than two million houses were washed away, 10,000 people killed and 20 million people were rendered homeless. Distribution of Rainfall — Figure 5.15 some idea about the distribution of rainfall during wet monsoon season. With the exception of Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of Tamil Nadu most of the country receives rainfall during this period. Western coast, Sahyadris, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Darjeeling hills get more than 200 cm of rainfall. Remaining parts of the north- eastern India, West Bengal, Odisha, eastern Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tarai Plains and hills of Uttarakhand enjoy rainfall between 100-200 em. Similarly southern and western Uttar Pradesh, northern and western Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra and Gujarat, northern Andhra Pradesh experience rainfall between 50 and 100 cm, Rajasthan, western Gujarat, southern Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka Plateau, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu Kashmir have less than 50 cm of rainfall (Fig, 5.15). 5.3.4, Season of Retreating South-West Monsoon ‘The south-west monsoon begins to retreat from northern India by the second or third week of September with the southward migration of the sun ives120 ee O00: CoN ee INDIA Perego outh-West at "Srinagar Withdrawal of S' SSS lexaeaeey Monsoon x Kamae ih FS tog etes y ching achafiigath, Soci. + “ts Genastt siaRagay” 1 bucky) =< Ae TN laput i © paina’y ¢—. 9shillong oy BANGLA _ ‘euliphal 24" Toes (“r | ip cc aay 1S, OF 1 Cot BENGAL } a g 1a 332 az ae se 8 aie a tee te oe GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA Fig. 5.17 : Withdrawal cf South West Monsoon and consequent weakening of the low pressure area over north-western India. By the end of September, it retreats from the Punjab and adjacent regions, after which clear and cool weather sets in. However, unlike the sudden burst the retreat is highly gradual (Fig. 5.17), By mid-October the southerly branch of the jet stream returns to its winter position south of the Himalayas and Northern Hemisphere polar dynamics are in command at the situation. The return is ‘accompanied by the restoration of light north-east trade winds to the surface. Temperature — In October major parts of the ‘country experience average temperature between 25° Cand 27° C (Fig. 5.18). High temperatures (> 27.5°C) are observed in southern Rajasthan, Gujarat and coastal plains of the east coast while Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and interior parts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka record lower temperature (Jess than 25°C), October is also characterised by high diurnal range of temperature. The temperature begins to decline in November and by December the cold weather sets in with about 16°C average temperature in the north and north-west, 20°C in the interior parts of the Peninsula and 26°C along the coasts. Pressure and Winds — With the beginning of October the low pressure area over the north-west India is dissipated and remnant is seen over the northern parts of the Bay of Bengal. By the beginning of December it moves further southwards and upto month-end it merges with the equatorial low. Upto November an extensive high pressure area is formed over north-western India. The winds are westerly in the north-western parts of the country and in the Ganga Plain, north-easterly in the Peninsular region and north westerly in the east coast Moisture and Rainfall — During this season winds are generally continental and, hence, the cloudiness and moisture are low except in the southern parts of the Peninsula, The relative humidityCLIMATE, ©0200 400 600 km INDIAN & OCEAN 121 INDIA Mean Temperature (October) ‘Mean Temperature (°C) Bo ; Eleors pf fSlesa0 7 [Edlezes Fig. 5.18 : Mean Temperature (October) is 48 per cent in Jaipur, 59 in Nagpur, 68 in Hyderabad, 73 in Mumbai and 83 in Chennai in the month of November. The retreating south-west monsoon causes some rains in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu whose amount decreases away from the coast. Weather during this season is also influenced by tropical cyclones which are very violent and destructive. Their impact becomes pronounced at the head of the Bay of Bengal when these are combined with a hurricane wave’ Temperature Regimes Most of India enjoys a comparatively warm temperature even during the winter season to promote plant growth. Figure 5.19 shows temperature regimes for representative stations of the country. In only two cases, both stations over 1500 m above sea level, do absolute minima fall below freezing point, Average daily maxima lie generally within the comfortable 20s, only Pune and Bellary in the Peninsular interior and Kochi on the Kerala coast exceed 30°C (see also the climate data in Table 5.1). Summer isotherms suggest more homogeneous conditions than in winter, setting aside the mountains where elevation reduces shade temperatures appreciably (note the maxima for Leh and Shimla in Table 5.1 and Fig. 5.19) it is only in the near- equatorial south, along the West coast, and around the head of the Bay of Bengal that average daily maxima fail to top 38°C. The effect of continentality is clear. Absolute maxima at stations well inland, like New Delhi, Jodhpur and Allahabad, lie in 40s for five or six months. As a rule the hottest months precede the on set of the rains and their extremely high temperatures tend to offset the beneficial effects of the pre-monsoon rains that may fall in April-May-June. May or June is usually the time of peak temperature, from which it falls quite sharply with the arrival of the monsoon, to a modest plateau in July-August and September. It declines further with the approach of winter when clear skies allow night-time radiation to bring a higher diumal range.age) he A ‘iia +e he iooan i 30) a © Average daily ‘A distinctive characteristic of Indian climate is its three fold divisions into : (i) the cool and mainly dry winter from November to February ; (ii) the hot and mainly dry summer from March or April into early June; and (iii) the wet monsoon, with ‘burst’ in June. “This seasonality is as much a function of the rainfall as of the temperature regime (Johnson, 1979, pp. 48- 58). Se Chena eas New Dethi New Delhi ~~s=. Jodhpur Allahabad f Kolkata gf a) Nagpur Ny ball «page 7” He hes HS rhatdepern |. Aiba Cherrapunji Tezpur ° Vishakhapatnam After B.L.C Johnson: 197 5.4. ANNUAL RAINFALL There exists anomaly in the temporal and regional distribution of rainfall in India, Of the total rainfall 75% is caused by south-west monsoon (June Sept), 13% by retreating monsoon (Oct-Dec.), 2% by winter monsoon (Dec.-Feb.) and 10% during pre- monsoon (March-May). Similarly 11% of the country— CLIMATE gets more than 190.cm. of rainfall, 21% between 127- 190 cm. 37% between 76-127 em, 24% between 38-76 em. and 7% less than 76 em, The 100 em isohyet divides the country into two roughly equal parts , a division that carries into agricultural regionalization as the boundary between rainfed rice cultivation and that of wheat of millets (Johnson, 1979, pp. 53-54). ‘The highest rainfall (> 200 cm) occurs along the west coast, on the Western Ghats, sub-Himalayan areas in the north-east and the hills of Meghalaya (Fig. 5.20). In certain parts of the Meghalaya Plateau 123 the rainfall exceeds 1000 cm. It, however, drops to 200 ‘em or even below in the Brahmaputra valley and the adjoining hills. [tis between 100-200 cm in southern Gujarat, eastern Tamil Nadu, north-eastern part of the Peninsula, Bihar, eastern Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Cachar valley, Sub Himalaya and Ganga plains. The rainfall over parts of Punjab, Haryana, northern and central Rajasthan and Gujarat is below 60 cm. It is less than 20 cm in the arid regions of western Rajasthan. Elsewhere it is between 60-100 om (Fig. 520). rE Te 78° 20" N o% ose ee 300-400 Bo | wee) mt rn Fae AIZE seu wo w a 8 6° or Ver oe RPMs eo ee INDIA Average Annual Rainfall” Fig. 5.20 : Average Annual Rainfall124 In general the distributional pattern of annual rainfall shows two main trends : (a) it steadily declines towards the west and the north-west from Bengal INDIA Wet and Dry 10 mons Growth nent . by fost er BC sotnson 1979 INDIA Rainfall Incidence 0 ma pit ‘ ale 8 LC Johnson 1979, ian Fig. 521: A. Wet and Dry Seasons, B. Rainfall Incidence, bi GEOGRAPHY OF INDI, and Odisha coasts, and (b) from the west and the cast consts it exhibits a declining trend towards the interior parts of the Peninsula, 6.4.1, Rainfall Incidence igure 5.21.B shows the rainfall incidence on the basis of the occurrence of the rainy months within a calendar year (Fig, 5.21.A). In this map the country has been divided into 12 regions having similar rainfajy regimes (though not similar rainfall totals). Here rainy month has been regarded as one during, which more than one-twelfh of the mean annual rainfal jg normally received (Johnson, 1969. p.23). ‘The Assam type includes whole of the north. east where the rainy season extends to six months, from April to September. In the Bengal-Odisha type which includes West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh the rainy season lasts for five months, from May to September. The central Indian type in which the rains begin in June and continue for four months upto September, is a typical region of monsoon climate. It incorporates the largest area of the country covering Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, western Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and northern Andhva Pradesh. In north- west India type the duration of rainy season is for two months of July and August. It includes western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, central Rajasthan and western Gujarat. The desert type includes the sthan where slight rains western most parts of R: occur during July. In Kerala-Karnataka type the rainy season lasts for four months (from June to September) occupying parts of Kerala and Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu and south Andhra type the duration of rains is for 3 months, from August to October. In Palk Bay type along the Rameshwaram coast the rainy season falls in winter (from October to January). In the Himalayan region rains in the form of rainfall and snowfall are observed from 10 to 12 months except in northern Kashmir which is an area of winter rainfall (Ganuary and February). 5.4.2. Variability A characteristic feature of the monsoon rainfall is its variability. The actual rainfall of the place in a year may deviate from its mean rainfall by 20 to 50 per cent which seriously affects the prospects of—— CLIMATE agriculture. Here the variability of the annual rainfall has been calculated by using following formula : Standard deviation =x 100 The values, thus derived, are called coefficient of Variation. These indicate the amount of fluctuations of rainfall over a long period of time from the mean 125 values (Raza and Ahmed, 1990, p. $3), ‘The coefficient of variation of annual rainfall in India generally ranges between 15 and 30 per cent except in the north-west, Places such as Mangalore on the west coast, the sub-Himalayan belt including Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, and the north-eastern hilly regions of Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram have a ARABIAN SEA 16 12 ea 68 92" 6 100" E 26° INDIA Variability of Annual Rainfall (Per cent) 32 28" 24° ip 2 ee 4, ‘ a Kilometres *: ES a 0 0 10:00 40050 — es N INDIAN OCEAN 4 2 1 « a ea 92° op 44} a Fig. $.22 : Variability of Annual Rainfall126 a variability of less than 1S per cent, The variability increases from the Western Coast towards the interior parts of the Peninsular Plateau as west as from West Bengal and Odisha towards the north and north-west. Over the interior regions of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kamataka it is as high as 30 per cent. The isopleth showing 30 per cent variability runs over southern Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh and central Uttar Pradesh, The entire area lying te the ‘west and the north-west of this isopleth, excluding the Himalayan and the sub-Himalayan areas are characterised by high annual variability of more than 30 per cent. The variability over Gujarat and eastern Rajasthan is over 40 per cent which increases even RE 78° sR LANKA OCEAN . a 8 GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA, to 80 per cont in desert areas of the western Rajasthan (Fig. 5.22). ‘Variability is inversely related to the amount of rainfall, That is why high rainfall areas have low variability and vice-versa. It also has significant role in the Indian agriculture. The areas showing high variability of rainfall have chronic deficiency of water ‘nd are prone to droughts and famines (Fig, 5.23), 5.5. DROUGHTS The variability of rainfall leading to rainfall deficiency and water shortage causes droughts, In India the erratic nature of the monsoon with long dry spells and high temperature is responsible for creating such drought conditions. On an average, one in every 88 92 96° INDIA Water Deficient Areas m0 0 200 400 Kilometres. Bay OF BENGAL % Indira Point ad Fig. 5.23 : Waler Deficient Areas,— CLIMATE, five years is a drought year. However, its intensity varies from year to year, It is generally more frequent in areas of low (below 60 em) and variable (variability above 40 per cent) rainfall where irrigation facilities are not well developed (Fig, 5.23), In India there are following three well defined tracts which come under drought prone areas (Fig. 31.4) : (a) Desert and Semi-desert Region — This i rectangular area whose one side is formed by a line joining Ahmadabad to Kanpur and another from Kanpur to Jalandhar. The area includes Rajasthan, Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh, south-western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana covering about 0.6 million sq. km. of the country’s territory. The rainfall in this region is less than 7.5 cm and at places less than 4 cm. The severity of droughts is greater in those areas where irrigational facilities are not well developed. The Indira Gandhi Canal Project and the Sardar Sarovar Project (on the Narmada river) will prove beneficial to this area in minimizing the effects of the droughts. (b) Rainshadow Areas of the Western Ghats — This is the region situated on the leeward side of the Sahyadris in about 300 km wide belt stretching from Jalgaon (Maharashtra) to Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) and occupying an area of about 0.37 million sq. km. (c) Other Areas — These are in the form of scattered pockets in different parts of the country covering about 1 lakh sq. km of area. These include (i Kalahandi region of Odisha, (ii) Purulia district of West Bengal, (iii) Mirzapur plateau, (iv) Palamau region, (v) Coimbatore area, and (vi) Tirunelveli district, south of Vaigai river. The Irrigation Commission (1972) has identified two types of drought areas in country (Fig. 31.4) : (a) Drought Prone Areas — In these areas the rainfall is 25% variable from the normal. Following four areas have been included in this group (i) Gujarat, Rajasthan, adjoing areas of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, western Madhya Pradesh; (ii) central Maharashtra, inner Karnataka, Rayalseema, southern Telangana and some parts of Tamil Nadu; (iii) north- astern Bihar, south-eastem Uttar Pradesh; and (iv) Purulia district of West Bengal (b) Chronically Affected Drought Areas —Here the variability of rainfall is between 25 to 40 per cent 127 from the normal, It includes western Rajasthan and Kachehh, Above description shows that an area of about 10 lakh sq.km. is affected by droughts and inadequate rainfall, Of the total gross cultivated area of the country, about 56 million hectares is subject to inadequate and highly variable rainfall. The Irrigation ‘Commission (1962) has identified those areas as drought prone areas where the amount of annual rainfall is less than 10 cm, the variability of rainfall is more than 25 per cent and fess than 30 per cent of cultivated area is enjoying irrigation facilities. ‘Among some of the devastating famines and droughts of the recent history mention may be made of the Bengal famine of 1770, U.P. Famine of 1836, the Odisha famine of 1865-66, the Peninsular famine of 1876-78, the Maharashtra drought of 1965-66, the Bihar drought of 1966-68 and the Odisha drought of 1996- 97. About 10 million people died in the Bengal famine of 1770, 8 lakh in U.P. famine of 1836, 10 lakhs inthe Odisha famine of 1865-66, 55 lakhs in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu during the famines of 1876-78. Similarly Maharashtra suffered severe droughts during 1965-66 and Bihar during 1966-68. In 1996-97 Kalahandi area of Odisha suffered severe drought conditions and the abnormal behaviour of monsoon, led to the failure of cotton crops in Andhra Pradesh forcing some of the farmers to commit suicide. A study of above description shows that even high to medium rainfall areas of the country are susceptible to famines and droughts due to erratic behaviour of the mon- soon, Although due to the expansion of the modern ‘means of transport and communication and develop- ment of irrigational facilities the severity of these droughts has been minimized but these still have bearing on the economy and property of the people. Drought Prone Area Programme —The DPAP, covers 745,914 km? in 972 blocks of 182 districts in the country, It is an integrated area development programme in agricultural sector and aims at optimum, utilization of land, water and livestock resources, restoration of ecological balance and stabilizing the income of the people particularly the weaker section of the society. Some of the important elements of the programme include: (i) Development and management,