Monsoon - wikipedia Monsoon This article is about the seasonal winds. For other uses, see Monsoon ( disambiguation ). Advancing monsoon clouds and showers in Aralvaimozhy, near Nagercoil, India Part of the nature series Weather Calendar seasons Winter Spring Summer Autumn Tropical seasons Dry season Wet season Storms Cloud Cumulonimbus cloud Arcus cloud Downburst Microburst Heat burst Dust storm Simoom Haboob Monsoon Gale Sirocco Firestorm Lightning Supercell Thunderstorm Severe thunderstorm Thundersnow Storm surge Tornado Cyclone Mesocyclone Anticyclone Tropical cyclone ( Hurricane ) Extratropical cyclone European windstorm Atlantic Hurricane Typhoon Derecho Landspout Dust devil Fire whirl Waterspout Winter storm Ice storm Blizzard Ground blizzard Snowsquall Precipitation Drizzle ( Freezing drizzle ) Graupel Hail Ice pellets ( Diamond dust ) Rain ( Freezing rain ) Cloudburst Snow Rain and snow mixed Snow grains Snow roller Slush Topics Air pollution Atmosphere Chemistry Convection Physics River Climate Cloud Physics Fog Cold wave Heat wave Jet stream Meteorology Severe weather List Extreme Weather forecasting Weather portal Monsoon ( / mɒnˈsuːn / ) is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea. Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally changing pattern, although technically there is also a dry phase. The term is sometimes incorrectly used for locally heavy but short - term rains, although these rains meet the dictionary definition of monsoon. 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. The term was first used in English in British India 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. Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Strength of impact 4 Process 5 Global monsoon 5.1 Summary table 5.2 Africa ( West African and Southeast African ) 5.3 North America 5.4 Asia 5.4. 1 South Asian monsoon 5.4. 1.1 Southwest monsoon 5.4. 1.2 Northeast monsoon 5.4. 2 East Asian Monsoon 5.5 Australia 5.6 Europe 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links Etymology Monsoon clouds over Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh The English monsoon came from Portuguese monção, ultimately from Arabic mawsim ( موسم `` season '' ) and / or Hindi `` mausam '', `` perhaps partly via early modern Dutch monsun ''. History Strengthening of the Asian monsoon has been linked to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau after the collision of the Indian sub-continent and Asia around 50 million years ago. Because of studies of records from the Arabian Sea and that of the wind - blown dust in the Loess Plateau of China, many geologists believe the monsoon first became strong around 8 million years ago. More recently, studies of plant fossils in China and new long - duration sediment records from the South China Sea led to a timing of the monsoon beginning 15 -- 20 million years ago and linked to early Tibetan uplift. Testing of this hypothesis awaits deep ocean sampling by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. The monsoon has varied significantly in strength since this time, largely linked to global climate change, especially the cycle of the Pleistocene ice ages. A study of marine plankton suggested that the Indian Monsoon strengthened around 5 million years ago. Then, during ice periods, the sea level fell and the Indonesian Seaway closed. When this happened, cold waters in the Pacific were impeded from flowing into the Indian Ocean. It is believed that the resulting increase in sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean increased the intensity of monsoons. Five episodes during the Quaternary at 2.22 Ma ( PL - 1 ), 1.83 Ma ( PL - 2 ), 0.68 Ma ( PL - 3 ), 0.45 Ma ( PL - 4 ) and 0.04 Ma ( PL - 5 ) were identified which showed a weakening of Leeuwin Current ( LC ). The weakening of the LC would have an effect on the sea surface temperature ( SST ) field in the Indian Ocean, as the Indonesian through flow generally warms the Indian Ocean. Thus these five intervals could probably be those of considerable lowering of SST in the Indian Ocean and would have influenced Indian monsoon intensity. During the weak LC, there is the possibility of reduced intensity of the Indian winter monsoon and strong summer monsoon, because of change in the Indian Ocean dipole due to reduction in net heat input to the Indian Ocean through the Indonesian through flow. Thus a better understanding of the possible links between El Niño, Western Pacific Warm Pool, Indonesian Throughflow, wind pattern off western Australia, and ice volume expansion and contraction can be obtained by studying the behaviour of the LC during Quaternary at close stratigraphic intervals. Strength of impact Western Ghats on May 28 in dry season, 2010 Western Ghats on August 28 in rainy season, 2010 Play media This visualization shows the Asian monsoon and how it develops using observational and modeled data. It also shows some of the impacts. The impact of monsoon on the local weather is different from place to place. In some places there is just a likelihood of having a little more or less rain. In other places, quasi semi-deserts are turned into vivid green grasslands where all sorts of plants and crops can flourish. The Indian Monsoon turns large parts of India from a kind of semi-desert into green lands. See photos only taken 3 months apart in the Western Ghats. In places like this it is crucial for farmers to have the right timing for putting the seeds on the fields, as it is essential to use all the rain that is available for growing crops. Process Monsoons are large - scale sea breezes which occur when the temperature on land is significantly warmer or cooler than the temperature of the ocean. These temperature imbalances happen because oceans and land absorb heat in different ways. Over oceans, the air temperature remains relatively stable for two reasons : water has a relatively high heat capacity ( 3.9 to 4.2 J g K ), and because both conduction and convection will equilibrate a hot or cold surface with deeper water ( up to 50 metres ). In contrast, dirt, sand, and rocks have lower heat capacities ( 0.19 to 0.35 J g K ), and they can only transmit heat into the earth by conduction and not by convection. Therefore, bodies of water stay at a more even temperature, while land temperature are more variable. During warmer months sunlight heats the surfaces of both land and oceans, but land temperatures rise more quickly. As the land 's surface becomes warmer, the air above it expands and an area of low pressure develops. Meanwhile, the ocean remains at a lower temperature than the land, and the air above it retains a higher pressure. This difference in pressure causes sea breezes to blow from the ocean to the land, bringing moist air inland. This moist air rises to a higher altitude over land and then it flows back toward the ocean ( thus completing the cycle ). However, when the air rises, and while it is still over the land, the air cools. This decreases the air 's ability to hold water, and this causes precipitation over the land. This is why summer monsoons cause so much rain over land. In the colder months, the cycle is reversed. Then the land cools faster than the oceans and the air over the land has higher pressure than air over the ocean. This causes the air over the land to flow to the ocean. When humid air rises over the ocean, it cools, and this causes precipitation over the oceans. ( The cool air then flows towards the land to complete the cycle. ) Most summer monsoons have a dominant westerly component and a strong tendency to ascend and produce copious amounts of rain ( because of the condensation of water vapor in the rising air ). The intensity and duration, however, are not uniform from year to year. Winter monsoons, by contrast, have a dominant easterly component and a strong tendency to diverge, subside and cause drought. Similar rainfall is caused when moist ocean air is lifted upwards by mountains, surface heating, convergence at the surface, divergence aloft, or from storm - produced outflows at the surface. However the lifting occurs, the air cools due to expansion in lower pressure, and this produces condensation. Global monsoon Summary table Location Monsoon / sub-system Average date of arrival Average date of withdrawal Notes Northern Mexico North American / Gulf of California - Southwest USA late May September incomplete wind reversal, waves Tucson, Arizona North American / Gulf of California - Southwest USA early July September incomplete wind reversal, waves Central America Central / South American Monsoon April October true monsoon Amazon Brazil South American monsoon September May Southeast Brazil South American monsoon November March West Africa West African June 22 Sept / October waves Southeast Africa Southeast Africa monsoon w / Harmattan Jan March Kelantan, Malaysia Indo - Australian / Borneo - Australian October March Phuket, Thailand Indo - Australian February / March December Bangkok, Thailand Indo - Australian / Indian - Indochina April -- May October / November persistent Yangon, Myanmar Indo - Australian / Indian - Indochina May 25 Nov 1 Colombo, Sri Lanka Indo - Australian May 25 Dec 15 persistent Kerala, India Indian monsoon Jun 1 Dec 1 persistent Jakarta, Indonesia Indo - Australian / Borneo - Australian November March abrupt Lahore, Pakistan Indian monsoon late July Sep 1 Dhaka, Bangladesh Indo - Australian / Indian - Indochina mid-June October abrupt Cebu, Philippines Indo - Australian / Borneo - Australian October March abrupt Kaohsiung, Taiwan East Asian monsoon May 10 Taipei, Taiwan East Asian monsoon May 20 Kagoshima, Japan East Asian monsoon Jun 10 Seoul, Korea East Asian monsoon July 10 Hanoi, Vietnam East Asian monsoon May 20 Beijing, China East Asian monsoon July 20 Karachi, Pakistan Indian monsoon July 15 August Mumbai, India Indian monsoon July 10 Oct 1 Darwin, Australia Australian monsoon Oct April Africa ( West African and Southeast African ) The monsoon of western Sub-Saharan Africa is the result of the seasonal shifts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone 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. North america Main articles : North American Monsoon and United States rainfall climatology Incoming monsoon clouds over Phoenix, Arizona Play media Three - second video of a lightning strike within a thunderstorm over Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park 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 are the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. However, it is debatable whether the North and South American weather patterns with incomplete wind reversal should be counted as true monsoons. Asia The Asian monsoons may be classified into a few sub-systems, such as the Indian Subcontinental Monsoon which affects the Indian subcontinent and surrounding regions including Nepal, and the East Asian Monsoon which affects southern China, Taiwan, Korea and parts of Japan. South Asian monsoon Main article : Monsoon of South Asia Southwest monsoon Onset dates and prevailing wind currents of the southwest summer monsoons in India The southwestern summer monsoons occur from July through September. The Thar Desert and adjoining areas of the northern and central Indian subcontinent heat up considerably during the hot summers. This 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 into the subcontinent. These winds, rich in moisture, are drawn towards the Himalayas. The Himalayas act like a high wall, blocking the winds from passing into Central Asia, and forcing them to rise. As the clouds rise their temperature drops and precipitation occurs. Some areas of the subcontinent receive up to 10,000 mm ( 390 in ) of rain annually. The southwest monsoon is generally expected to begin around the beginning of June and fade away 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. The Arabian Sea Branch of the Southwest Monsoon first hits the Western Ghats of the coastal state of Kerala, India, thus making this area the first state in India to receive rain from the Southwest Monsoon. This branch of the monsoon moves northwards along the Western Ghats ( Konkan and Goa ) with precipitation on coastal areas, west of the Western Ghats. The eastern areas of the Western Ghats do not receive much rain from this monsoon as the wind does not cross the Western Ghats. The Bay of Bengal Branch of Southwest Monsoon flows over the Bay of Bengal heading towards North - East India and Bengal, picking up more moisture from the Bay of Bengal. The winds arrive at the Eastern Himalayas with large amounts of rain. Mawsynram, situated on the southern slopes of the Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, India, is one of the wettest places on Earth. After the arrival at the Eastern Himalayas, the winds turns towards the west, travelling over the Indo - Gangetic Plain at a rate of roughly 1 -- 2 weeks per state, pouring rain all along its way. June 1 is regarded as the date of onset of the monsoon in India, as indicated by the arrival of the monsoon in the southernmost state of Kerala. The monsoon accounts for 80 % of the rainfall in India. Indian agriculture ( which accounts for 25 % of the GDP and employs 70 % of the population ) is heavily dependent on the rains, for growing crops especially like cotton, rice, oilseeds and coarse grains. 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 1990s. The monsoon is widely welcomed and appreciated by city - dwellers as well, for it provides relief from the climax of summer heat in June. However, the roads take a battering every year. Often houses and streets are waterlogged and slums are flooded despite drainage systems. A lack of city infrastructure coupled with changing climate patterns causes severe economic loss including damage to property and loss of lives, as evidenced in the 2005 flooding in Mumbai that brought the city to a standstill. Bangladesh and certain regions of India like Assam and West Bengal, also frequently experience heavy floods during this season. Recently, areas in India that used to receive scanty rainfall throughout the year, like the Thar Desert, have surprisingly ended up receiving floods due to the prolonged monsoon season. The influence of the Southwest Monsoon is felt as far north as in China 's Xinjiang. It is estimated that about 70 % of all precipitation in the central part of the Tian Shan Mountains falls during the three summer months, when the region is under the monsoon influence ; about 70 % of that is directly of `` cyclonic '' ( i.e., monsoon - driven ) origin ( as opposed to `` local convection '' ). Northeast monsoon Monsoon clouds in Kolkata 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 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. About 50 % to 60 % of the rain received by the state of Tamil Nadu is from the Northeast Monsoon. In Southern Asia, the northeastern monsoons take place from December to early March when the surface high - pressure system is strongest. The jet stream in this region splits into the southern subtropical jet and the polar jet. The subtropical flow directs northeasterly winds to blow across southern Asia, creating dry air streams which produce clear skies over India. Meanwhile, a low pressure system develops over South - East Asia and Australasia and winds are directed toward Australia known as a monsoon trough. East Asian monsoon Main article : East Asian monsoon The East Asian monsoon affects large parts of Indo - China, Philippines, China, Taiwan, 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, Jangma in Korea, and Bai - u in Japan, with the latter two resembling frontal rain. The onset of the summer monsoon is marked by a period of premonsoonal rain over South China and Taiwan in early May. From May through August, the summer monsoon shifts through a series of dry and rainy phases as the rain belt moves northward, beginning over Indochina and the South China Sea ( May ), to the Yangtze River Basin and Japan ( June ) and finally to North China and Korea ( July ). When the monsoon ends in August, the rain belt moves back to South China. Australia Monsoonal squall nears Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia 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. Examples are the formation of a rare low - latitude tropical storm in 2001, Tropical Storm Vamei, and the devastating flood of Jakarta in 2007. 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 of topography, wind and sea, as demonstrated by its abrupt rather than gradual withdrawal from the region. The Australian monsoon ( the `` Wet '' ) occurs in the southern summer when the monsoon trough develops over Northern Australia. Over three - quarters of annual rainfall in Northern Australia falls during this time. Europe See also : Climate of Europe The European Monsoon ( more commonly 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 does n't meet all the requirements to be classified as such. Instead the return of the westerlies is more regarded as a conveyor belt that delivers a series of low pressure centres to Western Europe where they create unsettled weather. These storms generally feature significantly lower than average temperatures, fierce rain or hail, thunder and strong winds. 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. See also Tropical monsoon climate Monsoon ( photographs ) of India, 1960 References Jump up ^ Ramage, C., Monsoon Meteorology. International Geophysics Series, Vol. 15, 296 pp., Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. 1971. Jump up ^ Trenberth,. K.E., Stepaniak, D.P., Caron, J.M., 2000, The global monsoon as seen through the divergent atmospheric circulation, Journal of Climate, 13, 3969 -- 3993. Jump up ^ `` On Air -- Sea Interaction at the Mouth of the Gulf of California '', Paquita Zuidema and Chris Fairall, in Journal of Climate, Volume 20, Issue 9, May 2007, published by the American Meteorological Society Jump up ^ `` Welcome to Monsoon Season -- Why You Probably Are Using This Term Wrong ''. 29 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Jump up ^ `` Definition of Monsoon ''. 28 July 2016. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. ^ Jump up to : Rohli, Robert V. ; Vega, Anthony J. ( 2011 ). Climatology. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 187. ISBN 978 - 0763791018. 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Earth, Oceans, and Life. Archived 2007 - 10 - 26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008 - 05 - 11. Jump up ^ Anil K. Gupta and Ellen Thomas. Initiation of Northern Hemisphere glaciation and strengthening of the northeast Indian monsoon : Ocean Drilling Program Site 758, eastern equatorial Indian Ocean. Archived 2008 - 12 - 08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008 - 05 - 11. Jump up ^ M.S. Srinivasan & D.K. Sinha ( 2000 ). `` Ocean circulation in the tropical Indo - Pacific during early Pliocene ( 5.6 -- 4.2 Ma ) : Paleobiogeographic and isotopic evidence ''. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences. Earth and planetary sciences. 109 ( 3 ) : 315 -- 328. ISSN 0253 - 4126. Archived from the original on 2008 - 12 - 08. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 11. Jump up ^ D.K. Sinha ; A.K. Singh & M. Tiwari ( 2006 - 05 - 25 ). `` Palaeoceanographic and palaeoclimatic history of ODP site 763A ( Exmouth Plateau ), South - east Indian Ocean : 2.2 Ma record of planktic foraminifera ''. Current Science. 90 ( 10 ). Jump up ^ `` Sea breeze -- definition of sea breeze by The Free Dictionary ''. TheFreeDictionary.com. Jump up ^ `` Liquids and Fluids -- Specific Heats ''. Archived from the original on 2007 - 08 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Solids -- Specific Heats ''. Archived from the original on 2012 - 09 - 22. Jump up ^ `` Monsoon ''. Britannica. Archived from the original on 2007 - 10 - 13. Retrieved 2007 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Dr. Michael Pidwirny ( 2008 ). CHAPTER 8 : Introduction to the Hydrosphere ( e ). Cloud Formation Processes. Archived 2008 - 12 - 20 at the Wayback Machine. Physical Geography. Retrieved on 2009 - 01 - 01. Jump up ^ Bart van den Hurk and Eleanor Blyth ( 2008 ). Global maps of Local Land -- Atmosphere coupling. Archived 2009 - 02 - 25 at the Wayback Machine. KNMI. Retrieved on 2009 - 01 - 02. Jump up ^ Robert Penrose Pearce ( 2002 ). Meteorology at the Millennium. Archived 2016 - 04 - 27 at the Wayback Machine. Academic Press, p. 66. ISBN 978 - 0 - 12 - 548035 - 2. Retrieved on 2009 - 01 - 02. Jump up ^ Glossary of Meteorology ( June 2000 ). `` Gust Front ''. American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2011 - 05 - 05. Retrieved 2008 - 07 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2017 - 06 - 06. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 06. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2017 - 06 - 06. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 06. ^ Jump up to : `` Archived copy '' ( PDF ). Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 2017 - 12 - 15. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 06. ^ Jump up to : Innovations Report. Monsoon in West Africa : Classic continuity hides a dual - cycle rainfall regime. Archived 2011 - 09 - 19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008 - 05 - 25. ^ Jump up to : `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2016 - 06 - 25. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 06. ^ Jump up to : `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2016 - 08 - 01. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 06. Jump up ^ African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses ( AMMA ). `` Characteristics of the West African Monsoon ''. AMMA. Archived from the original on July 12, 2007. Retrieved 2009 - 10 - 15. Jump up ^ Innovations Report. Monsoon in West Africa : Classic continuity hides a dual - cycle rainfall regime. Archived 2011 - 09 - 19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008 - 05 - 25. Jump up ^ Arizona State University Department of Geography. Basics of Arizona Monsoon. Archived 2009 - 05 - 31 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008 - 02 - 29. Jump up ^ New Mexico Tech. Lecture 17 : 1. North American Monsoon System. Retrieved on 2008 - 02 - 29. Archived October 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Ahmad, Latief ; Kanth, Raihana Habib ; Parvaze, Sabah ; Mahdi, Syed Sheraz ( 2017 - 12 - 05 ). Experimental Agrometeorology : A Practical Manual. Springer. ISBN 9783319691855. Jump up ^ Official Web Site of District Sirsa, India. District Sirsa. Archived 2010 - 12 - 28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008 - 12 - 27. Jump up ^ Blumer, Felix P. ( 1998 ). `` Investigations of the precipitation conditions in the central part of the Tianshan mountains ''. In Kovar, Karel. Hydrology, water resources and ecology in headwaters. Volume 248 of IAHS publication ( PDF ). International Association of Hydrological Sciences. pp. 343 -- 350. ISBN 1 - 901502 - 45 - 7. Jump up ^ `` NORTHEAST MONSOON ''. Archived from the original on 2015 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ Robert V. Rohli ; Anthony J. Vega ( 2007 ). Climatology. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 204. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7637 - 3828 - 0. Retrieved 2009 - 07 - 19. Jump up ^ Visser, S.W. ( 1953 ). Some remarks on the European monsoon. Birkhäuser : Basel. Jump up ^ Leo Hickman ( 2008 - 07 - 09 ). `` The Question : What is the European monsoon ? ''. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013 - 09 - 02. Retrieved 2009 - 06 - 09. Jump up ^ Paul Simons ( 2009 - 06 - 07 ). `` ' European Monsoon ' to blame for cold and rainy start to June ''. The Times. Archived from the original on 2011 - 06 - 04. Retrieved 2009 - 06 - 09. Further reading International Committee of the Third Workshop on Monsoons. The Global Monsoon System : Research and Forecast. Chang, C.P., Wang, Z., Hendon, H., 2006, The Asian Winter Monsoon. The Asian Monsoon, Wang, B. ( ed. ), Praxis, Berlin, pp. 89 -- 127. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monsoon. Wikinews has related news : Asian monsoon rains force millions to flee Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Monsoon. National Weather Service : The North American Monsoon East Asian Monsoon Experiment Arizona Central monsoon page Basics of the Arizona Monsoon Climate oscillations Climate oscillations 8.2 kiloyear event Antarctic Circumpolar Wave Antarctic oscillation Arctic dipole anomaly Arctic oscillation Atlantic Equatorial mode Atlantic multidecadal oscillation Earth 's axial tilt Bond event Dansgaard -- Oeschger event Diurnal cycle Diurnal temperature variation El Niño -- Southern Oscillation ( El Niño - La Niña ) Equatorial Indian Ocean oscillation Glacial cycles Indian Ocean Dipole Madden -- Julian oscillation Milankovitch cycles Monsoon North Atlantic oscillation North Pacific Oscillation Orbital forcing Pacific decadal oscillation Pacific -- North American teleconnection pattern Quasi-biennial oscillation Seasonal lag Seasons Solar variability LCCN : sh85086993 GND : 4170491 - 5 BNF : cb12121034k ( data ) NDL : 00565994 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monsoon&oldid=821747224 '' Categories : Climate of India Climate patterns Climate Flood Weather hazards Wind Winds Rain Tropical meteorology Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007 Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Articles containing video clips Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Alemannisch Azərbaycanca বাংলা Беларуская भोजपुरी Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Frysk Gaeilge Galego ગુજરાતી 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Ido Ilokano Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Кыргызча Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Magyar Македонски മലയാളം मराठी მარგალური Bahasa Melayu မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands नेपाली 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Саха тыла संस्कृतम् Scots Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் తెలుగు ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 粵語 中文 डोटेली 76 more Edit links This page was last edited on 22 January 2018, at 11 : 22. 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Question: where does the monsoon first hit the main indian land
Answer: the Western Ghats of the coastal state of Kerala, India