Seasons and Climates

The climate in India varies considerably, with average temperature ranging from 50^oF to 86^oF. The northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Himalayan region will experience snow fall in winter with the temperature going below the freezing point while in southern part, the temperature can rise up to 114^oF in summer. The Thar desert in the northwest region of India experiences less than 10 inches of rain where as the Shillong plateau in the northeast recieves more than 450 inches of rain. The town of Chirapunji, in the northeast state of Assam has recorded the highest rainfall, in one year, in the world (1, 042 inches).

The climate in India is greatly dominated by the two monsoon winds - the Northeast monsoon wind and the Southwest monsoon wind. The most important of these is the Southwest monsoon wind. The progress of this wind can be used to divide the year into six seasons: winter, spring, summer, summer monsoon, autumn, and the winter monsoon.

The failure of these winds to produce sufficient rain causes famine and drought in the central part of India. Excessive rain with heavy winds, known as cyclones (here in USA, hurricanes), cause flash floods and loss of crops and lives of both human and animals. In India, mainly an agricultural country, the life of a farmer depends on the rain. This is the reason why people in India pray to the god of rain, Varuna, to either protect from flash floods or to bless with abundant rain. Of course, sometimes, prayer is answered.

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