HT6M 34 Lesson 21

21. Monsoons
21.1 The general causes of seasonal winds and monsoons
The trade winds are prominent over much of the major oceans except in the Arabian
Sea, Bay of Bengal and China Seas where the Asian seasonal monsoons predominate.

The term monsoon is a derivation of an Arabic word meaning season.

The simple pattern of belts of pressure and associated prevailing winds does not
occur over the continental land masses. This continental effect is most marked over
Asia, the world’s largest land mass.

In this area a seasonal reversal of wind direction is observed which also affects the
of currents in the region.

This variation from the single pattern is associated with a fluctuation in the surface
temperature.

Land surfaces become hot in summer and cold in winter, while the sea temperature
changes very little.

There are several reasons for this:

(1) Land has a lower specific heat capacity than water; this means that more heat
energy is required to raise the temperature of a given mass of water by 1C
than that needed to raise the temperature of the same mass of land by 1C.

(2) Land is a poor conductor of heat. This means that if the land surface becomes
warm the heat will not be easily lost by conduction to the air above and to
lower layers of rock, soil etc below the surface.

(3) The depth of penetration of solar radiation. Insolation can only affect the top
few centimetres of soil, but the transparency of water allows the insolation
to extend to greater depths.

(4) Turbulence. Turbulence only affects water and will cause water which has
been warmed at the surface to be mixed downwards through a layer which
may be some 100 m or so deep.

Under the influence of summer heating an area of low pressure

develops over a land surface.

Similarly, under the influence of winter cooling an area of high

pressure develops over a land surface.

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21.2 Monsoons of Asia

There are two types of monsoon which affect regions of Asia as a result of the effects
of surface heating and wind reversal.

21.2.1 The NE monsoon

The season for the NE monsoon is from October to March.

The NE monsoon forms as a result of the following processes:

• During northern winter the Asian continent is cooled.

• Air in contact with the cold land surface is cooled from below causing an
intense high pressure over Eastern Siberia.

• The anticyclone controls the winds of the North Indian Ocean and the China
Seas.

• The NE monsoon winds are cold and dry as they originate from over the cold
Siberian continent.

Bay of
Bengal
Arabian China Sea
Sea

Indian
Ocean

Fig. 21.1 – The NE monsoon of Asia (October to March).

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The associated weather of the NE monsoon is summarised below:

(1) Bay of Bengal

• Prevailing winds are North Easterly Force 4.

• Weather is generally fine and cloud amounts are small.

• In the extreme SW of the Bay it is cloudy.

• Considerable rainfall on the eastern coast of southern India and the eastern
coast of Sri Lanka.

• Visibility generally good, but in the northern part of the Bay it may be reduced
by smoke.

(2) Arabian Sea

• Prevailing winds are North Easterly Force 4.

• Weather is generally fine and clear with cloudiness and rainfall increasing
towards the south and east.

• Visibility generally good but it may be reduced by dust and haze in the north
and east.

(3) China Sea

• Prevailing winds are N to NE and reach Force 5 to Force 6 at the height of the
season.

• Weather is generally fine and clear except near the coasts of South China and
Vietnam where spells of overcast drizzly weather with poor visibility occur
between February and April.

• This is known locally as Crachin.

The NE monsoon winds may extend across the equator, changing direction to N or
NW to become the N monsoon off E Africa and the NW monsoon off N Australian
waters.

21.2.2 The SW monsoon

The season for the SW monsoon lasts from May to September or October.

The SW monsoon forms as a result of the following processes:

• As the Asian land mass becomes heated air at the surface becomes heated
from below and expands upwards.

• A thermal low becomes established centred over NW India near the W

Himalayas.

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• With the ITCZ to the north of the Equator the SE trades of the Southern Indian
Ocean and Western South Pacific are drawn across the Equator and are
deflected to the right by Coriolis.

• The deflected trade winds join the circulation around the monsoon low.

• The air stream has crossed thousands of miles of ocean and therefore has a
high absolute humidity.

• Its progress over southern India at the start of the season is called the ‘burst’
of the monsoon.

• Squally rain and thunder accompany the arrival of the SW monsoon.

• Excessively heavy rainfall occurs where the air meets high ground, such as the
Western Ghats, the mountains of NE India and Pakistan and the West coast of
Burma.

Arabian China Sea

Sea

Indian
Ocean

Fig. 21.2 – The SW monsoon of Asia (May to September).

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The associated weather of the SW monsoon is summarised below:

(1) Bay of Bengal

• Winds are SW moderate to fresh, Force 4 to 5.

• Weather is generally cloudy and unsettled with less cloud and rainfall near
the eastern coasts of India and Sri Lanka.

(2) Arabian Sea

• Winds are SW.

• Over most of the Arabian Sea winds are Force 4 to Force 5, but in the western
part the average is Force 6 and may reach Force 8.

• Weather is cloudy and unsettled with heavy rainfall on the western coasts of
India and Burma.

(3) China Seas

• Winds are Force 3 to Force 4.

• Fog may occur on the coast of China, due to the warm moist air travelling
over water previously cooled by the NE monsoon winds.

• Away from the land weather is generally fair, about half of the sky is covered
and rainfall is significant on exposed coasts.

21.3 West African monsoons

Here there is a reversal of the winds that takes place between summer and winter
but the intensity is nothing like that of the monsoons of Asia.

Winter
This is known as the ‘dry’ season. The NE winds are produced by the pressure
gradient between the sub-tropical anticyclone and the equatorial low-pressure
areas.

The ITCZ is just north of the equator and the NE winds blow over almost the entire
region.

The NE wind is known locally as the Harmattan.

The associated weather of the NE winds is summarised below:

• Average wind strength is Force 3 to 4.

• Wind becomes cooler and more absolute humidity increases as it moves

further away from the coast.

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• Cloud cover is about 3/8 on average with low rainfall and humidity.

• Visibility is frequently reduced by haze which is due to dust carried by the

wind.

Fig. 21.3 – The NW Harmattan wind of the winter in Western Africa.

Summer monsoon
This SW monsoon forms as a result of the following processes:

• In northern summer the West African land mass heats more rapidly than the
adjacent sea, producing an area of surface low pressure over the land.

• The ITCZ moves further north reaching about 15°N in July.

• The SE trade winds cross the equator, are deflected by Coriolis force and
become SW winds.

This SW Monsoon produces a marked contrast with the winter weather.

The length of the SW monsoon season is greatest in the south.

The associated weather of the SW monsoon is summarised below:

• Wind have an average strength of Force 3, but may increase to Force 6 during
thundery squalls.

• Cloud amounts are high and thunderstorms are particularly common in the
south.

• Latitudes between 5N and 12N have torrential rain almost throughout the
SW monsoon, the amount of rainfall is less in the north.

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• Average maximum temperature is just below 30° in most parts, only slightly
lower than during the ‘dry’ season.

• Humidity is high, especially in July at the peak of the season.

Fig. 21.4 – The SW monsoon of summer in Western Africa.

21.4 The NE winds of the East Brazil coast

Winter
The SE Trade Winds blow between the sub-tropical anticyclone and the equatorial
low-pressure area. The winds have an average strength of Force 4 to 5 in the north
and Force 3 to 4 in the south. The northern area is cloudy, but there is little cloud
and rain in the south. Average daily maximum is 25C.

Fig. 21.5 – The SE trade winds in Brazil (winter).

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Summer
The South American continent heats more rapidly than the adjacent ocean. The sub-
tropical anticyclone moves southwards and an area of surface low pressure develops
over Brazil. The pressure gradient causes the SE trades to change direction. They
become Easterly and then North-easterly as they approach the coast and join in the
circulation around the low over Brazil.

In the north the NE trades cross the equator.

In the S the NE monsoon winds are less constant than the winter SE winds. Cloud
cover is 2 to 3/8 at 15°S increasing southwards. Rainfall is very heavy on the coast.

Fig. 21.6 – The NE trade winds in Brazil (summer).

21.5 Other seasonal winds and monsoons

Seasonal winds and monsoons take place in other parts of the world where the
characteristics of their formation are similar, resulting from seasonal pressure changes
over neighbouring land masses due to surface heating and cooling.

The NW monsoon of Australia is notable in southern summer where a thermal low

develops over the desert regions. The pressure gradient from the high over Siberia
(northern winter) is continued to this thermal low. The NE monsoon winds blow down
to and past the equator where they are deflected to the left giving NW winds on the
coasts. Having picked up moisture the air has a high relative humidity causing periods
of rain. Typical winds are of force 4-5. Intensification or otherwise of the Siberian high
can vary the monsoon experienced as well as the NE monsoon over Asia.

These are summarised in the table on page 76 of The Mariner’s Handbook.

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