India Climate
India is a big tropical country and is famous for its diverse climatic features. India climate can be categorized into six principal subcategories and this has been determined by the Koppen climate classification.
Seasons in India
The seasons in India can be broadly categorized into the following:
| Name of the season | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Winter | The months of January and February |
| Summer | The months of March to May |
| Monsoon (rainy) season | The months of June to September |
| A post-monsoon period | The months of October to December |
Features of the seasons in India
Given below are the prominent features of the seasons in India in a tabular format:
| Name of the season | Features |
|---|---|
| Winter | The winter in India spans the months of December till the beginning of April. The coldest months of the year are January and December. During this period, the average temperature is approximately 50-59 °F (10-15 °C) in the northwestern parts of the country. The mercury soars as you move in the direction of the equator, and the maximum temperature in this area is close to 68-77 °F or 20-25 °C in the southeastern parts of the Indian territory. |
| Summer. The summer is also known as the pre-monsoon season. | The summer months are the months of April to June. However, the summer refers to the months of April to July in the northwestern parts of the country. In the southern and western parts of the country, the month with the maximum recorded temperature is April. In case of the northern parts of the country, the month with the maximum recorded temperature is May. The average temperature registered during these months is close to 90-104 °F (32-40 °C) in majority of the inland areas of the country. |
| Monsoon or rainy season | The monsoon, also known as the rainy season, spans the months of June to September. This season is primarily influenced with the moist southwestern summer torrential rainfall that gradually moves throughout the nation. It starts in the end of May or the beginning of June. The precipitation starts to ebb from Northern India in the early October. Usually, the southern parts of the country get higher volume of precipitation than the northern parts of the country. |
| Post-monsoon season | The post-monsoon season spans the months of October to December. In the northwest parts of the country, the months of November and October normally have a bright weather. The Indian state of Tamil Nadu gets the maximum volume of yearly rainfall in the northeastern rainy season. |
The states in the Himalayan mountain ranges feature more clement climatic conditions. These states witness two more seasons and they are spring and autumn. Conventionally, the people of India have been experiencing six seasons in a year and every one of it spans for approximately two months or sixty days. These seasons are named summer (grima), the spring (vasanta in Sanskrit), autumn (sarada), monsoon season (vara), winter (sisira) and early late autumn (hemanta). The categorization has been done on the basis of the astronomical distribution of the 12 months in a year into six fragments. The age-old Hindu calendar indicates these periods in its list of months.
Characteristics of rainfall in India
| Type of Rainfall | Areas |
|---|---|
| Areas of very little rainfall (lower than 50 cm): | Western Rajasthan , northern part of Kashmir, the Deccan Plateau and Punjab. |
| Areas of low precipitation (50-100 cm): | Eastern Rajasthan, Upper Ganga basin, Southern plains of Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. |
| Areas of comparatively heavy rainfall (100-200 cm): | Southern areas of Gujarat, north-eastern Peninsular region, east Tamil Nadu, eastern Maharashtra, Western Ghats, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and the central Gangetic basin. |
| Areas of heavy rainfall (more than 200 cm): | The western seashores, the Western Ghats, Hills of Meghalaya, and the Sub-Himalayan range territories in North East. West Bengal, Assam, Western Coast, and southern part of east Himalayas. |
Where to visit in India during the various seasons
| Where to visit in India during the Summer: | Though the summer can be quite rough and difficult in majority of the areas in the country, it's the ideal occasion to visit the hill stations and mountains in the country like Nainital and Manali. If you are a wildlife enthusiast, the summer is also the ideal occasion to go to the national parks in India as the creatures become visible and they look for water in the warmth. |
| Where to visit in India during the Monsoon: | It's hard to trip in India at the time of the rainy season since it causes disturbances in traffic. Nonetheless, the monsoon is the ideal occasion to see the famous yet secluded Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. |
| Where to visit in India during the Winter: | The winter season is the ideal occasion to visit the seashores in India. The pristine and sandy beaches in Goa are the most popular tourist draws during this period. The southern parts of India witness more visitors than the northern parts of India during this period. The beaches in Kerala are also good places to visit during this time. The months of December to February are excellent times to make a trip to South India. You can also go to Rajasthan to view its deserts in the winter months. |
Climatic regions in India
The various climatic regions of India are given below:
| Name of climatic region | States or territories |
|---|---|
| Tropical Rainforest | Assam and parts of the Sahyadri Mountain Range |
| Tropical Savannah | Sahyadri Mountain Range and parts of Maharashtra |
| Tropical and subtropical steppe | Parts of Punjab and Gujarat |
| Tropical Desert | Most parts of Rajasthan |
| Moist subtropical with winter | Parts of Punjab, Assam, and Rajasthan |
| Mountain climate | Parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttaranchal |
| Drought | Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana |
| Tropical semi-arid steppe | Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and other parts of South India |
Last Updated on : 12/05/2012
