Pre-Monsoon To Kick-Off On Hotter Note For South: North Will Follow Suit
Key Takeaways:
- April and May mark the core Pre-Monsoon or Hot Season across India.
- Dust storms in the west and Norwesters in the east define the season.
- South and Central India have already touched 37°C in multiple cities.
- North India temperatures likely to rise sharply in the second half of March.
Months of April and May are counted as part of the Pre-Monsoon season, also named the ‘Hot Season’. The month of June is an overlap of Pre-Monsoon for North India and Monsoon for South India. While the month of March is typical of pre-monsoon for South India, it still remains a transition month for the northern plains and mountains. The hot season, as such, is a transitional season when the winter monsoon pattern of pressure and winds gets disrupted prior to the establishment of the summer monsoon pattern, and that is how it is often referred to as the pre-monsoon period. This is the hottest part of the year for the Indian Sub-Continent.
The season is characterized by widespread dust haze and very high temperatures over western parts and interiors of South India. There are dust storms (andhis) over Western India and thundersqualls (Norwesters) over Eastern India. These are triggered by the influx of warm, moist air in association with western disturbances. The tracks of western disturbances move north with the progress of the season.
The land and sea breeze effect becomes prominent over the coastal areas. The frequency of thundershowers increases progressively in South India with increased influx of moist air from the sea as the season advances. A few tropical cyclones form in the Indian Seas, but they move north or northeast and strike Odisha, West Bengal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Cyclones forming in the Arabian Sea do threaten the Gujarat Coast occasionally. The sub-tropical westerly jet stream weakens and moves north of the Himalayas by the end of the period.
South India is already on the boil. Erode, Salem, Madurai, Anantapur and Kurnool have already touched mercury levels of 37°C. Over the central parts, Akola and Amraoti in Vidarbha and Rajkot in Saurashtra have also reached the 37°C mark, a little early in the season. North India is slow in catching up, and the temperature is yet to breach the 35°C mark over Punjab and Haryana. The border posts of Barmer and Phalodi over West Rajasthan are among the first to cross or reach the 35°C mark this season. The temperatures are likely to rise significantly over the plains of North India during the second half of March.
