Indian Geography / Indian Climate
Different Types of Seasons in India
There exists only 4 different types of seasons in India from the meteorological point of view, though people follow 6
traditional seasons in India. The meteorological cycle of seasons in India that occur one after another are (i) Pre Monsoon Season, (ii) South-West Monsoon
Season, (iii) North-East Monsoon Season and (iv) Post Monsoon Season. The traditional 6 seasons in India are Spring season, Summer season,
Monsoon season, Autumn season, Pre-Winter season and Winter season.
India's climate is Tropical Monsoon type climate. In Tropical
climate, summers are hot and winters are cool. Great Northern Plains lie in the subtropical region, but the Himalayas make the climate Tropical because
they block the cold waves coming from the North. Weather changes rapidly in the Indian subcontinent. In India, the Thermal Range is very
high in North West India and is very minimum in coastal areas.
Different types of seasons in India with months are given below
Pre Monsoon Season
- Pre Monsoon season extends from Mid March to Mid June and has very extreme weather and it is very Dry and Hot.
- In this season, interiors of Deccan Plateau records more temperature.
- Convective showers can be seen in some places.
- Conditions are made favourable for Monsoon and hence it is called preparatory season for Monsoon. That is, there will be creation of low pressure.
South-West Monsoon Season
- South-West Monsoon season extends from Mid June to Mid September. Of all the types of seasons in India, it is the very Humid and Wet season. This season is
influenced by Monsoon wind system, which triggers South West Monsoon in India
.
- During this season, there will be 6-80 fall in temperature, which is on account of south western warm or humid maritime winds.
- Of the two types of Monsoon in India, more than 2/3rd of the rainfall (annual) is received in this Monsoon and hence
it is called Rainy season. It is also called Kharif crops season.
North-East Monsoon Season
- North-East Monsoon season extends from Mid September to Mid December.
- By this time Sun already entered into the southern hemisphere and the Insolation received is less and hence High pressure is built up on the land and the
weather is turned into dry and cool.
- It is also the period of Retreating Monsoon, where the South-West Monsoon is getting retreated. Reversal of pressure gradient causes the
retreating of Monsoon.
- North-East Trade winds deflect the retreating winds and make up the
North East Monsoon in India. Because of this phenomenon, some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu receive the rains.
- During this period, Cyclones occur in Bay of Bengal which causes lot of rainfall in coastal areas.
- It coincides with Rabi crops season in northern plains and wheat is cultivated during this time.
- Western Cyclonic Disturbances - Western Disturbances occur due to cyclones in Mediterranean and Red seas and they enter the Himalayan
mountain ranges from North-West direction during this season. These are beneficial for high yield level of wheat. They are sometimes followed by cold wave
conditions, making the temperature reaching up to 2-30C.
Post Monsoon Season
- Post Monsoon season extends from Mid December to Mid March. This is a transition period between the winter and the summer.
- Of the four different types of seasons in India, this season has very unstable and unsettled weather conditions.
