Indian Weather Forecast

India, as everybody knows, have one of the most culturally diverse population with people of different religions living together in harmony but what people dose not realize is that the weather in India is as diverse as the country itself. As one starts to go from Kanyakumari towards Jammu and Kashmir one can witness and feel the changing climate. One can witness rain, sun, snow, famous and notorious Indian monsoon. Weather in India can change in matter of seconds as one might witness sunshine a minute and rain in another. This variety in the climatic conditions goes on all year around.

India is a country that is spread along vast physical distance, with mountains in the north, plains in the center and the vast seas in the south. As India lies in the south of the Asian sub-continent it is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal from east, the Arabian sea from the west and the vast and almost endless Himalayan mountain range from the other side. This vast country and diverse climatic conditions have helped India to grow as one of the major agricultural country as the changing weather from region to region have helped India in growing different kinds of vegetations under different climatic conditions. The Indian weather shows a unique resemblance to the diverse cultures that have grown in this country.

It is the uncertainty of weather conditions in India that puzzle geographers and agriculturists such as the onset of the monsoon rains, unpredictable fluctuations in rainfall, sudden flooding, rapid erosion, extremes of temperature and tropical storms. The climatic conditions of India can roughly be categorized into four conditions such as cool and dry winters from December to February, hot and dry summers from March to May, heavy rainfalls by southwest monsoon from June to September and retreating northeast monsoons from October to November. Southwest monsoons blow from sea to land and usually start from the West coast. Since monsoon rainfall affects agricultural production, its arrival is of much importance to the agriculturist country and government planners and agronomists eagerly watch predictions of its arrival.

Unlike the other states of India, Deccan India consisting of states such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala receive most of their rainfall from the northeast monsoon during November and December. Himalayan winters see temperature dipping below the freezing point and heavy snowfall while the Coromandel Coast experiences tropical climate. The eastern states of Assam and West Bengal experience heavy rainfalls and frequent floods while the arid Great Indian Desert rarely sees clouds. The major climatic regions of India are - the Himalayas, Assam and West Bengal, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Western Ghats and coast, the interiors of the Deccan and the Eastern Ghats and coast.

The Himalayan climate varies with the altitude. At 2000m above sea level, the average summer temperature is about 18oC while at 4,500 m above sea level, it rarely reaches above 0oC. However, valleys have warmer summers where the temperatures reach between 32oC and 38oC. Assam and West Bengal have high humidity percentage while Meghalaya experiences the world's highest average annual rainfall, which reaches about 10,900 mm in a year. Indo-Gangetic plains have varied climatic patterns from the eastern to western extreme. Southwest Monsoons bring heavy rainfall to the Western Ghats and the adjoining coastal regions. Deccan interiors experience about 650 mm of rainfall every year on an average.

Eastern Ghats receives less rainfall than their Western counterparts. It receives about 900 to 1,300 mm of annual rainfall. Northern Deccan region with the Western Ghats, the Vindhya Range and the Narmada River to the north and the Eastern Ghats to the south receives most of its annual rainfall during the summer monsoon season. Southern Deccan is a rain-shadow area with warm trpical climate from 15oC to 38oC. Heat is oppressive farther down the Himalayas and the temperatures can be as high as 48oC in the pre-monsoon months. The southwest monsoons offer some relief from the scorching sun.

This section provides the weather report on various cities of India.