Define 'burst of monsoon'. Give an account of the climatic conditions of the cold weather season in India.
Answers
Burst of Monsoons When monsoons arrive in India, the normal rainfall increases suddenly and continues constantly for several days. This is called ‘burst of monsoon’.
Climatic Conditions of the Cold Weather
(i) Cold weather season prevails from November to February.
(ii) The temperature decreases from South to the North.
(iii) Days are warm and nights are cold.
(iv) The North-East trade winds prevail over the country. These winds cause some amount of rainfall on the Tamil Nadu coast.
(v) The weather is marked by clear sky, low temperatures and low humidity and feeble, variable winds.
(vi) Low pressure systems originate over the Mediterranean sea and move into India, alongwith the Westerly flow.
They cause the much needed winter rains over the plains and snowfall in the mountains.
It first breaks on the south-west coast of India. The main features of the cold weather seasons are :
(I) It begins iiom mid-November in northern India and lasts till February. The coldest months are December and January, in northern India. The temperature decreases from south to north. Days are warm and nights are cold. Frost is common in the north and higher slopes of the Himalayas get rainfall. The weather is
marked by clear sky, low temperature and low humidity.
(ii) In Chennai, on the eastern coast, the average temperature is between 24°-25° celsius. .
(iii) During the winter season, north-east trade winds blow over the country. They blow from land to sea and hence for most part of the country it is a dry season. However they cause some rainfall on the Tamilnadu coast as here
they blow from sea to land and pick up moisture from the Bay of Bengal. ’
(iv) Another characteristic feature of the cold weather season over the northern plains is the inflow of the cyclonic disturbance hem the west. They are low pressure areas originating over the mediterranean sea and West Asia and brought by the Westerly flow. They cause winter rains over the plains and snowfall in the Himalayas. The winter rainfall is locally known as Mahawat and are important for the cultivation of rabi crops.