Paper I · 4 Geography of India & AP · APPSC Paper I
4.3.1 Climate and monsoon notes
10 notes, in reading order.
- 4.3.1.1Factors controlling India's climate
India has a tropical monsoon climate shaped by latitude, altitude, pressure and winds, distance from the sea, ocean currents and relief, with the Himalaya and the monsoon winds as the two dominant influences.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.2Cold weather season and western disturbances
Winter (mid-November to February) is cool and dry in the north under high pressure, with winter rain from western disturbances in the north-west and from the north-east monsoon on the Tamil Nadu coast.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.3Hot weather season and pre-monsoon storms: mango showers, kalbaisakhi and loo
March to May heats the country as the sun moves north, creating a heat low in the north-west, hot dry loo winds, and local thunderstorms such as mango showers and kalbaisakhi before the monsoon.
Standard · 3 min · Full course - 4.3.1.4Monsoon mechanism: classical theory, ITCZ, jet streams and the Tibetan Plateau
The south-west monsoon is a seasonal reversal of winds driven by the shift of the ITCZ over India, the heating of the Tibetan Plateau, the arrival of the tropical easterly jet and the cross-equatorial flow from the Mascarene High.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.5Southwest monsoon: onset, advance, breaks and withdrawal
The south-west monsoon bursts over Kerala around 1 June, covers the country by about 8 July, brings the bulk of India's rain, and begins to withdraw from the north-west in September.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.6Retreating monsoon and the northeast monsoon
October and November are the transition months: the south-west monsoon withdraws, the "October heat" builds, and cyclones and the north-east monsoon bring rain to the east coast, especially Tamil Nadu and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.7Monsoon and ENSO, IOD and MJO: IMD forecasting
El Nino and La Nina in the Pacific, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the Madden-Julian Oscillation all influence monsoon strength, and the IMD forecasts the season in stages using models.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.8Rainfall distribution and variability in India
Rainfall in India is highest on the windward Western Ghats and in the north-east, lowest in the north-west desert and Deccan interior, and the least reliable where it is least abundant.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.9Climatic regions of India: Köppen and Trewartha schemes
Köppen's scheme uses temperature and rainfall letters to divide India into eight climate types, while Trewartha's modification groups them into fewer broad classes.
Standard · 4 min · Full course - 4.3.1.10Cyclones of the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea
Tropical cyclones of the north Indian Ocean form mainly in the Bay of Bengal in April-May and October-December, and warm seas, Coriolis force and low wind shear decide where they form.
Standard · 5 min · Full course
Practise Climate and monsoon. Questions with answers explained, from the same topics.
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