Monsoon of South Asia

Monsoon of South Asia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
06/12/14 2:03 pm
and the Himalayas right across the path of the SW Monsoon winds.
These are the main cause of the substantial orographic precipitation all
over the Indian subcontinent.[Note 2]
1. The Western Ghats are the first highlands of India that the SW
Monsoon winds encounter.[Note 3] The Western Ghats rise very
abruptly from the Western Coastal Plains of the subcontinent
making effective orographic barriers for the Monsoon winds.
2. The Himalayas play more than the role of just the orographic
barriers for Monsoon. They help in its confinement onto the
subcontinent. Without it, the SW Monsoon winds would blow right
over the Indian subcontinent into Tibet, Afghanistan and Russia
without causing any rain. [Note 4]
3. For NE Monsoon, the highlands of Eastern Ghats play the role of
orographic barrier.
Pink arrow: SW Monsoon wind direction; Green arrow: NE Monsoon
wind direction.
Orographic precipitation.
Geographical features of Indian subcontinent.
Daytime scene showing the pre-monsoon air over India.
Recent trends in total average annual precipitation from monsoons
Features of Monsoon Rains

There are some unique features about the rains that Monsoon brings to the
Indian subcontinent.
"Bursting" of Monsoon Rains

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon_of_South_Asia#Theories_for_Monsoon_Variability
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Bursting of Monsoon implies the onset of the sudden change in weather

conditions in India (typically from hot and dry weather to wet and humid
weather during the SW Monsoon) due to abrupt rise in the mean daily
rainfall.[13][14] Similarly the burst of NE monsoon marks an abrupt increase
in the mean daily rainfall over the affected regions.[15]
Monsoon Rain Variability ("Vagaries")

One of the most commonly used phrases to describe the erratic nature of the
Monsoon of the Indian subcontinent is "vagaries of monsoon", used in
newspapers,[16] magazines,[17] books,[18] web-portals[19] to insurance
plans[20] and India's budget discussions.[21] In some years, it rains too much
causing floods in several parts of India, in others it rains too little or not at all
causing droughts. In some years when the rain quantity is sufficient, its
timing may be arbitrary. In some years, in spite of average annual rainfall,
its daily distribution or the areal distribution might be substantially skewed.
Such is the variability in the nature of Monsoon rains and weather. In the
recent past, rainfall variability in short time periods of about a week were
even attributed to desert dust over the Arabian Sea and west Asia Link.
Ideal and Normal Monsoon Rains

Every year the normal onset of SW Monsoon is
expected to "burst" onto the western coast of India
(near Thiruvananthapuram) around 1 June
covering entire India by around 15 July.[12][22][23]
Its withdrawal from India typically starts from 1
September onwards and completes by around 1
October.[24][25]
Annual Average Rainfall Map
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Similarly the NE Monsoon is expected to "burst"

around 20 October and last for a period of about
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of India
50 days before withdrawing.[15]

However, a rainy Monsoon is not necessarily a normal Monsoon. A normal
Monsoon is expected to perform close to its statistical averages calculated
over a significantly long periods. Therefore, a normal Monsoon is generally
accepted to be the Monsoon that has near average quantity of precipitation
over all the geographical locations (mean spatial distribution) under its
influence and over the entire expected time period of its influence (mean
temporal distribution). Additionally, the arrival date and the departure
date of both the SW and NE Monsoon should be close to the mean dates. The
exact criteria for Normal Monsoon is defined by the Indian Meteorological
Department with calculations for the mean and standard deviation for each
of the aforesaid precipitation variables.[26]
A Monsoon with excess rain can cause floods in, and one with too little rain
can lead to widespread drought, food shortage, famine and economic losses.
Therefore, a normal Monsoon with mean performance is the most desirable
Monsoon.
Theories for Mechanism of Monsoon

Theories for mechanism of Monsoon primarily try to explain the reasons for
the seasonal reversal of winds and the timings of their reversal.
Traditional Theory
Main article: Sea breeze
Due to difference in the specific heat capacity of land and water, continents
heat up faster than the seas. Consequently the air above the coastal lands
heats up faster than air above seas. This creates areas of low air pressure
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above coastal lands compared to the air pressure over the seas causing winds
to flow from the seas onto the neighboring lands. This is known as sea breeze
Process of Monsoon creation
Main article: Monsoon Process
Also known as the thermal theory or the
Differential Heating of Sea and Land Theory, it
portrays the Monsoon as a large-scale sea breeze.
It states that during the hot sub-tropical summers,
the massive landmass of Indian Peninsula heats up
at a different rate than the surrounding seas
resulting in a pressure gradient from South to
A: Sea breeze, B: Land
North. This causes flow of moisture laden winds
breeze
from sea to land. On reaching the land these winds
rise up due to the geographical relief, cooling adiabatically and leading to
orographic rains. This is the southwest monsoon. Reverse happens during
winter when the landmass is colder than the sea establishing a pressure
gradient from land to sea. This causes the winds to blow over Indian
landmass towards Indian Ocean in a north-easterly direction causing the
northeast monsoon. Since the SW monsoon is from sea to land, it has more
moisture (therefore causing more rain) than the NE monsoon. Only a part of
the NE monsoon passing over Bay of Bengal picks up moisture causing rain
in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu during the winter months.
However many meteorologists argue that the Monsoon is not a local
phenomenon as explained by the traditional theory but a general weather
phenomenon along the entire tropical zone of earth. This criticism, does not
deny the role of differential heating of sea and land in generating monsoon
winds but merely restricts it to one of the several factors rather than the only
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one.
Dynamic Theory
Main article: Prevailing winds
Main article: Atmospheric circulation
The prevailing winds of the
atmospheric circulation arise due to the
difference in pressure at various
latitudes of Earth and act as means for
distribution of thermal energy on the
planet. This pressure difference is due
to the differences in Solar insolation
The Atmospheric Circulation system with
associated pressure belts and latitudes
received at different latitudes of Earth
and the resulting uneven heating of the planet. Alternating belts of highpressure and low-pressure develop along the equator, the two tropics, the
Arctic and Antarctic circles and the two polar regions giving rise to the Trade
winds, Westerlies and the Polar easterlies. However, the geophysical factors
like revolution of earth, its rotation and axial tilt of the Earth result in
gradual shifting of these belts northwards and southwards following the
Sun's seasonal shifts.
The dynamic theory of Monsoon explains monsoon on the basis of the
annual shifts in the position of global belts of pressure and winds. According
to it, Monsoon is the result of the shift of the Inter Tropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ) under the influence of the vertical sun. Though the mean
position of the ITCZ is taken as the equator it keeps shifting northwards and
southwards with the migration of the vertical sun towards the tropics (Tropic
of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn) during the summer of the respective
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hemispheres (Northern and Southern Hemisphere). As such, the theory

states that during the northern Summer (months of May and June), the ITCZ
moves northwards, along with the vertical sun, towards the Tropic of Cancer.
The ITCZ being the zone of lowest pressure in the tropical region, is the
target destination for the Trade winds of both the hemispheres.
Consequentially, with ITCZ at the Tropic of cancer, the South East Trade
winds of the Southern Hemisphere have to cross the equator to reach the
ITCZ.[Note 5] However, due to Coriolis effect, (Coriolis effect causes winds in
northern hemisphere to turn to its right whereas winds of southern
hemisphere to turn to its left) these South East trade winds are deflected
eastwards in the Northern Hemisphere transforming into South West trades.
[Note 6] These pick up the moisture while traveling from sea to land and cause
orographic rain once they hit the highlands of the Indian Peninsula. This
results in the South-West Monsoon.
The dynamic theory provides the explanation of the system of Monsoon as a
circum-global weather phenomenon rather than just a local one. And when
coupled with the Traditional Theory (based on heating of Sea and Land) it
enhances the explanation of the differential intensity of precipitation impact
of Monsoon along the coastal regions with orographic barriers.
Jet Stream Theory

Main article: Jet stream
This theory tries to explain the establishment of both the NE and SW
Monsoons as well their unique features like bursting and variability. The jet
streams are a system of upper-air westerlies. It gives rise to slowly moving
upper-air waves, with 250 knots winds in some air streams. First observed by
World War II pilots, they develop just below the tropopause over areas of
steep pressure gradient on the surface. The main types are the polar jets, the
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subtropical westerly jets and the less common tropical easterly jets. They
follow the principle of geostrophic winds.[Note 7]
Over India, a subtropical westerly jet
develops in the winter season which is
replaced by the tropical easterly jet in the
summer season. The high temperature over
the Tibetan Plateau, as well as over Central
Asia in general, during the summer is
believed to be the critical factor leading to the formation of the tropical
easterly jet over India in summer. The mechanism affecting monsoon is that
the westerly jet causes high pressure over northern parts of the subcontinent
during the winter. This results in the north to south flow of the winds in the
form of the NE Monsoon. With the northwards shift of the vertical sun, this
jet shifts northwards too. The intense heat over the Tibetan Plateau, coupled
with associated terrain features of high altitude of the plateau, etc. generate
the tropical easterly jet over central India. This jet creates a low pressure
zone over the northern Indian plains influencing the wind flow towards these
plains, assisting the establishment of the SW Monsoon.
Theory for "Bursting" of Monsoon

The unique feature of bursting[13] of the Monsoon is primarily explained by
the Jet Stream theory and the Dynamic Theory.
Dynamic Theory
According to this theory, during the summer months of Northern
Hemisphere, the ITCZ shifts northwards pulling the SW Monsoon winds
onto the land from the sea. However the huge landmass of the Himalayas
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Monsoon of South Asia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Features of Monsoon Rains

"Bursting" of Monsoon Rains