Seasons in India: Diverse and Unique!

Climate in India

 

India is the land of great diversity, warm people, beautiful culture and wonderful natural beauty. The country is indeed charming, diverse and magnetic, beckoning people from every corner of the world. The seasons in India are also exquisite, each having its individual charm and appeal.

The Indian subcontinent experiences 6 seasons, with a minimum approximate duration of two months each. However, the present climatic situation in the country has shown a trend of having 3 predominant seasons, namely the summer season, the rainy season and the winter season. Different climatic factors are accountable for the seasonal changes taking place within India.

• Spring (Approximately Mid February to April)

• Summer (Approximately May to June)

• Monsoon (Approximately July to September)

• Autumn (Approximately September to Mid-November)

• Winter (Approximately Mid-December to Mid-February)

Seasons in India: Diverse and Unique

Spring in India

Spring season in India represents happiness and joy. You can experience the sweet scent of the flowers filling up your entire mind and gorgeous colors around giving you a reason to smile.  This is a lovely time to visit the magnetic land of India.

Summers in India

Summer in the northwest of India, lasts from the months of April to July; while in the remaining parts of the country, from the months of March to June. The hottest month in the southern and western parts of India, is April and in case of north India, it is the month of May. During the summers, in many parts of India, temperatures go up to 50 °C and more. In the coastal regions, temperatures linger around 36 °C (97 °F). The proximity to the sea increases the humidity level. In south India, temperatures on the east coast are higher than that of the west coast.

By the month of May, most parts of India has a minimum temperature of about 32 °C (90 °F), and a maximum of 40 °C (104 °F) or more. Altitude affects the temperature of a particular place to a great extent. For instance, the Deccan Plateau is relatively cooler. Hill stations such as Kalimpong in the eastern Himalayas, Ooty in the Western Ghats experiences a maximum temperature of about 25 °C (77 °F), thereby offering some respite from the scorching heat.  In the lower elevations, some parts of west and north India experiences a hot, dry wind called the Loo, during the day time. This raises the temperature sometimes even to 45 °C (113 °F). It can even cause sun stroke.

Summer is the best time to escape to some of the beautiful and captivating hill stations in India that presents you with an amazingly pleasant weather.

Monsoons in India

During the southwest summer monsoon that continues for about 4 months, thunderstorms dominate the weather in India. It happens to be a very productive wet season. Monsoonal torrents, a product of the Southeast trade winds that originates from the Indian Ocean is responsible for more than 80% of the annual rainfall in India.

The monsoon breaks over the entire Indian Territory by about 25^th of May. By 1st June monsoons strike the Indian mainland near Kerala’s Malabar Coast. By around 9^th of June, monsoon reaches Mumbai. In Delhi monsoon makes its appearance by around 29^th June. The entire India experiences the monsoons by the 1^st week of July. Though more precipitation is received by North India, yet it receives less rainfall than South India. Monsoons withdraw itself from North India by the end of the month of August. In Mumbai, it starts withdrawing from 5th October. As the country starts cooling down from September, the southwest monsoon starts weakening and by November end, it leaves the country.

This duration of the monsoon season continues to decrease from the south to north and from the east to west. In the extreme side of the north-west it is only about 2 months. An annual rainfall of more than 300 cm is received by regions in the western coast and northeast India. While in west of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, the annual rainfall is less than 50 cm. In the interior of the Deccan plateau and Leh in Kashmir also, the rainfall is low. Snowfall takes place in the Himalayan region.

The rainy season in India greatly influences the Indian Economy. Good monsoons results in good agriculture and a booming industry, while failed or weak monsoons results in wide spread loss in agriculture and thereby the Indian Economy. Indeed, the monsoons are the time when the smell of the wet earth feels one’s soul and mind. Small children are seen dancing like peacocks in the rain. The monsoon magic surely works on every one of us!

Autumn in India

With the season of autumn in India comes the celebration and festivity. It is the ideal time to pay a visit to India, whereby you can also participate in the celebration of the country. The temperature in the autumn is very comfortable and pleasant.

Winters in India

As the rainy season starts subsiding, the temperatures in India also start falling and the country begins to experience a cool weather. Temperatures change to almost about 0.6 °C (1.08 °F) per degree latitude. The months of December and January are the coldest, with the mean temperatures ranging between 10–15 °C (50–59 °F) in the Himalayas. In the south and the east, the mean temperatures are high with temperatures between 20–25 °C (68–77 °F). In the north west of India, the months of October and November experiences cloudless conditions, with diurnal swings in temperature. In the plains, temperature often goes down below the freezing point. During the winter months, day temperatures in Delhi is between 16 °C (61 °F) to 21 °C (70 °F) while at night it is 2–8 °C (36–46 °F). In the plains of Punjab temperatures often goes down to −6 °C (21 °F). In east India, the climate is much mild with warm day and cold nights. In South India, like the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, parts of Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, cooler weather exists.

Winters are the ideal time to pay down a visit the mesmerizing land of India as it offers you a cool, pleasant and comfortable weather to relax or travel. Winters in India generally commences from November and prevails till February. You have the bright sunny days to unwind or engage in various winter sports held in the hill states of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttranchal, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim. Winters are welcoming and appealing. This one season would never fail to charm you. After a sultry weather, winter is the time to celebrate. It provides you with a refreshing escape. With blossoming flowers, migrating birds and colorful sky, this season in India is definitely about enjoying, partying and holidaying!

 

Change in Climate: Is India Ready?

Indian Climate

The climate in India presents us with a diverse range of weather conditions and varied topography across a wide geographic scale. Several important climatic subtypes can be traced in India, such as the alpine tundra and glaciers in the northern region, deserts in the west, tropical humid regions in the rain forest of the southwest and the island areas etc. Many regions in India are found to have strikingly different climates.

The geology and unique geography of India, strongly affects the climate of the country. Prime examples of this are the Himalayas in the northern side or the Thar Desert located on the northwest. Though the Tropic of Cancer passes through middle of the country, yet the whole of India is generally considered to have tropical climate.

Varied Climatic Zones in India

• Tropical rainy climate zone

This zone has two different types of climate, namely, the Tropical monsoon rain forest and the Tropical wet and dry climate. The Western Ghats, Southern Assam and the western coastal lowlands experiences the tropical monsoon rain climate. Characterized through out the year by high temperatures, the regions have a seasonal rainfall, with heavy showers that counts to more than 200 cm every year. The peninsular plateaus of India, experiences the Tropical wet and dry climate. Summers are very hot with day temperatures over 45°C. The annual rainfall received by this region through out the months of June to September is from 75 to 150 cm. Winter begins from October.

• Dry climate zone

The dry climate zone can be divided into three climatic types, Tropical semi-arid steppe climate, Tropical and sub-tropical desert and Tropical and sub-tropical steppe. Regions to the south of the Tropic of Cancer, the Cardamom Hills and the east of the Western Ghats, have Tropical semi-arid steppe climate. States of Karnataka, Central Maharshtra, West Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu experiences this type of climate. The region is characterized by unreliable annual rainfall of 40 to 75 cm. While the summer temperatures are about 32°C, the winter temperatures vary from 20°C to 24°C. The western part of Rajasthan experiences the Tropical and sub-tropical desert climate. The region receives very less rainfall, which is one of the reasons of cloud burst in this area. Summers are very hot with maximum temperatures going up to 50°C. During the winters, the temperatures can sometimes go below the freezing point. The eastern region of the tropical desert consisting of Punjab, Haryana and Kathiawar experiences the tropical and sub-tropical steppe climate.  The annual rainfall of the region is about 30 to 65 cm. In summer, the temperatures can go up to 40°C.

• Humid sub-tropical climate zone

The Punjab-Harayana plain lying adjacent to the Himalayas, the Himalayas Foothills, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Rajasthan, Assam and north of West Bengal falls under this climatic zone. The annual rainfall received is around 65 cm in the western region and about 250 cm in the east. Frost sometimes occurs in the winters.

• Mountainous climatic zone

Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim fall in this climatic zone.

Main Seasons Characterizing the Indian Climate

The Indian Climate follows three major seasonal types, summer, monsoon and the winter Season. The summers in India comprises of the months of March to June. Very hot climate characterizes the summer seasons. The maximum temperatures can go up to 40°C and more. With the end of summers, monsoon comes in and remains till October. Mixed amount of rainfall is received in different parts of India and the annual rainfall in India varies fro 30cm to 60cm and even more. India experiences the cold in the months from October to February, which are the winter months in India. While some parts of India are mildly cold, some places have chilled winter days.

Indian Climate- Disasters

Recently, numerous developmental activities and uncontrolled industrialization have disturbed the seasonal cycles in the country and drastically affected the climate and the environment. This in turn has resulted in various climatic disasters over time, like Landslides Floods, Drought, cyclones, avalanches, and Global Warming. Torrential rains and the unrestricted cutting down of the trees, even though indirectly, results in drought and landslide. Regular floods takes place in different parts of India, thereby resulting in huge loss of property and most importantly numerous valuable lives. Other dangers that pose a great threat are the dust storms in summer, Hail etc. Agriculture in India, depends heavily on monsoons. Both heavy rainfall in some parts of India and failure of monsoons in other parts, disturbs the agricultural system in India and badly hits the economy. Regions in India that are prone to famine are northern Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa, and Rajasthan. One of the most disastrous effects is the global warming. Rise in sea level, increase in ambient temperatures, cyclonic activity, and fickle precipitation etc leads to global warming. As a result of this global warming and rising sea level, many regions in Sundarbans of West Bengal and other parts of India have submerged. Smoke and haze from the burning of biomass, wastes from the industries in India, emission of carbon, aerosols, dust leads to atmospheric pollution.

Change of Climate in India- The Vulnerable State

At a time, when the country is busy tackling with its many developmental schemes in various spheres, are “WE”, the people of India aware of the fact that soon we will be faced with most dangerous threats ever i.e. “Change in climate”. It is believed that, like the many developing nations, most section of people in India, wont be able to deal with the impacts of climate change. Different economic ties, natural resources and sectors that are climate-sensitive like water, agriculture and forestry will pose a major threat to India and so the country would need adaptive measures at different levels to combat the threat. Since India is a developing nation, so unlike the industrialized countries, India can afford very little the economic backlashes and other risks. With the changes in major climatic variables such as precipitation, humidity, temperature, etc, India will be hit in a big and bad way. A country where more than 27.5% of population is below the poverty line, is more vulnerable to climate change then the other countries and therefore should soon adopt measures to reduce on the same.

The country has already started to witness various impacts like cyclones, floods, heat waves etc which has in turn affected the system of fisheries, agriculture, and health. Having one of the fastest growing world economies, India, with the aim to achieve growth targets and develop more will soon be prone to highly increased emissions. Currently the fourth largest green house emitter, India will become the largest emitter of the same by the year 2015, as per the predictions of the International energy Agency. About 83% of carbon dioxide is emitted in India owing to burning of fossil fuels while 70% of the supply of electricity comes through coal.

Recognizing that the change in climate is a serious issue of concern, India will now engage in multilateral negotiations with the UNFCCC to tackle the problem. Various measures are also being adopted to deal with global warming. The country will now focus on reduced per capita emissions, use clean technologies, protect the vulnerable sections of people and then achieve national growth.

Climate change is presently considered to be the most serious challenge that will bring on serious and dangerous affects on the environment.  It is the key concern to be dealt with.  With several steps being taken up by India on one hand and many things being left undone on the other, the serious question that crops in every Indian mind is that “Is India Ready for the Climate Change?”