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Know About Monsoons

Article · August 2012

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 Know About Monsoons
Sukhbir Singh and Surender Singh
Dept of Agril Meteorology
CoA, CCS HAU Hisar

When most people hear the word ‘monsoon’, thoughts of abrupt, intense rainfall typically come
to mind. Although many areas across the world do, in fact, receive the majority of annual rainfall
during the monsoon, this term, derived from the Arabic word ‘mausim’ meaning season,
technically refers to a seasonal reversal in winds. The term was first used in English in British
India (now India, Bangladesh and Pakistan) and neighbouring countries to refer to the big
seasonal winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing
heavy rainfall to the area. During the summer months, the land surface heats up as days become
longer and incoming solar radiation increases. In coastal areas, a large difference in temperature
develops between the land and the nearby ocean because water has a higher specific heat
capacity, meaning it takes more energy to heat up the ocean surface to the same temperature as
the land. The warmer air over the land is less dense and, therefore, rises, creating low pressure
near the surface with relatively higher pressure over the cooler ocean surface. This pressure
difference leads to onshore winds at the surface and a return flow at upper levels.

Typical monsoon circulation and onset over India

This mechanism is similar to that described for sea breezes (the cooler winds you feel coming off
the ocean while sitting at the beach under the sun), but occurs on a much larger scale. The
surface winds bring moist air over the land surface, and if that air can be lifted, whether by being
forced up along steep mountains, rising due to surface heating/convection, or from surface
convergence (perhaps due to colliding of these onshore winds with downslope winds off
mountain ranges), clouds and subsequent rain will form. This is the reason that monsoons are
typically associated with an increase in rainfall. In the winter, however, as the land cools off
quicker than the nearby ocean, a reverse circulation develops, resulting in offshore flow and a
shift to drier conditions over the land areas.
Global monsoons
The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the West African and Asia-Australian
monsoons. The inclusion of the North and South American monsoons with incomplete wind
reversal has been debated.
 Classic monsoon region
African monsoon
The monsoon of western Sub-Saharan Africa is the result of the seasonal shifts of the
Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the great seasonal temperature and humidity
differences between the Sahara and the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It migrates northward from the
equatorial Atlantic in February, reaches western Africa on or near June 22, then moves back to
the south by October. The dry, northeasterly trade winds, and their more extreme form, the
harmattan, are interrupted by the northern shift in the ITCZ and resultant southerly, rain-bearing
winds during the summer. The semiarid Sahel and Sudan depend upon this pattern for most of
their precipitation.

African monsoon
North America monsoon
The North American monsoon (NAM) occurs from late June or early July into September,
originating over Mexico and spreading into the southwest United States by mid-July. It affects
Mexico along the Sierra Madre Occidental as well as Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, West Texas and California. It pushes as far west as the Peninsular Ranges and
Transverse Ranges of Southern California, but rarely reaches the coastal strip (a wall of desert
thunderstorms only a half-hour's drive away is a common summer sight from the sunny skies
along the coast during the monsoon). The North American monsoon is known to many as the
Summer, Southwest, Mexican or Arizona monsoon. It is also sometimes called the Desert
monsoon as a large part of the affected area is the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.
 North American Monsoon
East Asian Monsoon
The East Asian monsoon affects large parts of Indo-China, Philippines, China, Korea and Japan.
It is characterised by a warm, rainy summer monsoon and a cold, dry winter monsoon. The rain
occurs in a concentrated belt that stretches east-west except in East China where it is tilted east-
northeast over Korea and Japan. The seasonal rain is known as Meiyu in China, Changma in
Korea, and Bai-u in Japan, with the latter two resembling frontal rain.

East Asian monsoon

Australian monsoon
Also known as the Indo-Australian Monsoon. The rainy season occurs from September to
February and it is a major source of energy for the Hadley circulation during boreal winter. The
Maritime Continent Monsoon and the Australian Monsoon may be considered to be the same
system, the Indo-Australian Monsoon. It is associated with the development of the Siberian High
and the movement of the heating maxima from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern
Hemisphere. North-easterly winds flow down Southeast Asia, are turned north-westerly/westerly
by Borneo topography towards Australia. This forms a cyclonic circulation vortex over Borneo,
which together with descending cold surges of winter air from higher latitudes, cause significant
weather phenomena in the region. The onset of the monsoon over the Maritime Continent tends
to follow the heating maxima down Vietnam and the Malay Peninsula (September), to Sumatra,
Borneo and the Philippines (October), to Java, Sulawesi (November), Irian Jaya and Northern
Australia (December, January). However, the monsoon is not a simple response to heating but a
more complex interaction topography, wind and sea, as demonstrated by its abrupt rather than
gradual withdrawal from the region. The Australian monsoon or rainy season occurs in the
austral summer when the monsoon trough develops over Northern Australia. Over three-quarters
of annual rainfall in Northern Australia fall during this time.

Australian Monsoon
European monsoon
The European Monsoon (known as the Return of the Westerlies) is the result of a resurgence
of westerly winds from the Atlantic, where they become loaded with wind and rain. These
Westerly winds are a common phenomenon during the European winter, but they ease as Spring
approaches in late March and through April and May. The winds pick up again in June, which is
why this phenomenon is also referred to as ‘the return of the westerlies’. The rain usually arrives
in two waves, at the beginning of June and again in mid to late June. The European monsoon is
not a monsoon in the traditional sense in that it doesn't meet all the requirements to be classified
as such. The Return of the Westerlies affects Europe's Northern Atlantic coastline, more
precisely Ireland, Great Britain, the Benelux countries, Western Germany, Northern France and
parts of Scandinavia.

European monsoon
South Asian monsoon
Monsoon rains are of great importance for India's Economy, specially its agriculture industry
dictating food prices in this country of 1.2 billion. Since India does not have any river linkage
system, people suffer with natural calamities like floods and drought resulting in destruction of
crops (Singh et al., 2004). It is due to this that Indian farmers are completely dependent on
monsoon rainfall. The monsoon accounts for 80% of the rainfall in India. Indian agriculture
(which accounts almost for 17% of the GDP and employs around 60% of the population) is
heavily dependent on the rains, for growing crops especially like cotton, rice, oilseeds and coarse
grains. Almost two-thirds of India’s population survives on rain-fueled farming (Bemal et al.,
2009). A poor monsoon season could kill the early opportunity for an economic revival and its
further survival. A delay of a few days in the arrival of the monsoon can badly affect the
economy, as evidenced in the numerous droughts in India in the recent decades (Singh et al.,
2006).

Southwest monsoon
The southwestern summer monsoons occur from June through September. The Thar Desert and
adjoining areas of the northern and central Indian subcontinent heats up considerably during the
hot summers, which causes a low pressure area over the northern and central Indian
subcontinent. To fill this void, the moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean rush in to the
subcontinent. These winds, rich in moisture, are drawn towards the Himalayas, creating winds
blowing storm clouds towards the subcontinent. The Himalayas act like a high wall, blocking the
winds from passing into Central Asia, thus forcing them to rise. With the gain in altitude of the
clouds, the temperature drops and precipitation occurs. Some areas of the subcontinent receive
up to 10,000 mm (390 in) of rain. The southwest monsoon is generally expected to begin around
the start of June and fade down by the end of September. The moisture-laden winds on reaching
the southernmost point of the Indian Peninsula, due to its topography, become divided into two
parts: the Arabian Sea Branch and the Bay of Bengal Branch.

Southwest monsoon
Northeast monsoon
Around September, with the sun fast retreating south, the northern land mass of the Indian
subcontinent begins to cool off rapidly. With this air pressure begins to build over northern India,
the Indian Ocean and its surrounding atmosphere still holds its heat. This causes the cold wind to
 sweep down from the Himalayas and Indo-Gangetic Plain towards the vast spans of the Indian
Ocean south of the Deccan peninsula. This is known as the Northeast Monsoon or Retreating
Monsoon. While travelling towards the Indian Ocean, the dry cold wind picks up some moisture
from the Bay of Bengal and pours it over peninsular India and parts of Sri Lanka. Cities like
Chennai, which get less rain from the Southwest Monsoon, receive rain from this Monsoon.

Northeast monsoon

Web resources / references:

Singh S, Rao VUM and Singh D. 2004. Rainfall probability during monsoon season on
local/regional scale in India. Journal of Agrometeorology. 6 (2): 264-271.

Singh S, Rao VUM and Singh D. 2006. Monsoon rainfall behavior in recent times on
local/regional scale in India. The Geographical Review of India. 68 (2):217-226.

Bemal S, Singh D and Singh S. 2009. Assessing Seasonal climatic variability impact on rice
productivity in Haryana. Journal of Agrometeorology. 11 (Spl Issue): 64-66.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon

https://www.tripsavvy.com/monsoon-season-in-india-1539591

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/glossary/monsoon.shtml

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