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.