Distribution of Rainfall in India

Distribution of Rainfall in India is not uniform.

Factors determining the distribution of rainfall in India

  • Direction of moisture-laden winds
  • Pressure conditions
  • Cyclonic depression determined by pressure gradient
  • Direction of relief features

Distribution of Rainfall in India

Regions receiving heavy rainfall (more than 200 cm)

  • Slopes of the Western Ghats and the Western Coastal Plains
  • Meghalaya Hills (Garo, Khasi and Jaintia), the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal

Regions receiving moderate rainfall (100–200 cm)

  • The southern parts of Tamil Nadu and the northern parts of Andhra Pradesh
  • Middle Ganga Valley, some parts of the Western Ghats, Eastern Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha

Regions receiving low rainfall (50–100 cm)

  • Parts of the Deccan plateau comprising the regions of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
  • Eastern Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Kashmir

Regions receiving scanty rainfall (100–200 cm)

  • Northern parts of Kashmir, southern Punjab and western Rajasthan
  • The rain shadow regions of the Western Ghats lying in the Deccan Plateau

Rainfall from the Southwest Monsoon

  • Mahabaleshwar located on the windward side of the Western Ghats receives heavy rainfall (250 cm). Pune, on the other hand, located on the leeward side gets less than 70 cm of rainfall annually.
  • It rains heavily in the northeastern parts of the country because of the presence of the mountain ranges.
  • There is a decrease in rainfall as one goes from the east to the west because the winds become dry as they shed their moisture in the course of their journey. Thus, Kolkata receives 120 cm of rainfall, Patna receives 102 cm, Allahabad receives 91 cm and Delhi gets 56 cm of rainfall.
  • The coast of Tamil Nadu does not get rainfall during this season. It is because this coast is parallel to the Bay of Bengal branch of the southwest monsoon winds. It also lies in the rain shadow area of the Arabian Sea branch of the southwest monsoon.

Rainfall During the Winter

Most parts of the country do not receive rainfall during the winter. Some areas which receive rainfall during the winters are

  • Central and northern parts of the country get occasional rainfall during winter.
  • Weak temperate cyclones cause rainfall in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh. This rainfall is beneficial for rabi crops.
  • Northeastern parts of the country also receive winter rainfall.
  • In October and November, northeast monsoon picks up moisture while blowing over the Bay of Bengal and cause torrential rainfall over the coast of Tamil Nadu and the southern tip of Andhra Pradesh.

Also, Read 4 Seasons in India

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