CLIMATE OF INDIA: WEATHER, REGIONAL VARIATIONS, HEAT WAVES

CLIMATE OF INDIA

India for the most part is a hot, tropical country with three major seasons: summer (hot), winter (cool) and the monsoon (rainy) season. The Tropic of Cancer roughly divides India into north and south. The climate north of the Tropic of Cancer tends to be more seasonal than the climate to the south, which is hot and tropical throughout most of the year. Winter is from October to February. Much of the Himalayas receive snow, and night temperatures throughout the rest of the country are chilly. The hot season lasts from March to June, and temperatures range from 29° C (85° F along the coast to 45° C (115° F) in the Deccan Plateau. The monsoon ( season usually lasts from June through September. Northern India receives the most precipitation. Average annual precipitation is 71.5 centimeters (28.1 inches). The average temperature in January is 14.3°C (57.7°F) and the average temperature in July is 31.2°C (88.2°F)

In many part of India the year is divided into four seasons: rainy (June to September); moist (October to November); dry cool (December to March); and hot (April to May). The northern half of the country is subject to frost from November through February, but by May a temperature as high as 49°C (120°F) in the shade may be recorded. [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007]

India is a big country and the climate varies a great deal from place to place. It has some of driest and the rainiest places on earth. Some places get 10 meters (33.3 feet) of rain a year. Other places get near zero. Temperatures are often determined as much by elevation and nearness to the sea as by latitude. The temperatures are generally cooler on the coast and in the mountains than there they are in the interior and in the lowlands. The city of Chennai (Madras) on the coast of southern India has an average temperature of 28°C (83°F). Temperatures for the entire nation reach an average high of (38° to 40°C (100° to 104°F) and dip to an average low of 50°F (10°C).

The Himalayas isolate South Asia from the rest of Asia. South of these mountains, the climate, like the terrain, is highly diverse, but some geographers give it an overall, one-word characterization — violent. What geographers have in mind is the abruptness of change and the intensity of effect when change occurs — the onset of the monsoon rains, sudden flooding, rapid erosion, extremes of temperature, tropical storms, and unpredictable fluctuations in rainfall. Broadly speaking, agriculture in India is constantly challenged by weather uncertainty. [Source: Library of Congress *]

Seasons of India

In places that recognize four distinct seasons: From December to February, conditions are generally dry and relatively cool. March to May is the hot, dry season, with temperatures rising sharply across much of the country. From June to September, moisture-laden southwest winds bring the summer monsoon, delivering most of the country's annual rainfall. October and November are characterized by the retreating monsoon, when drier winds from the northeast prevail over much of the subcontinent. [Source: Library of Congress]

While it is possible to identify seasons, they do not occur uniformly throughout South Asia. The Indian Meteorological Service divides the year into four seasons: the relatively dry, cool winter from December through February; the dry, hot summer from March through May; the southwest monsoon from June through September when the predominating southwest maritime winds bring rains to most of the country; and the northeast, or retreating, monsoon of October and November. *

Average temperatures range from about 12.5°C to 30°C (55°F to 86°F) in northwestern India, from 17.5°C to 30°C (64°F to 86°F) in northern and northeastern India, and from 22.5°C to 30°C (73°F to 86°F) in southern India. During the hottest months, temperatures in many inland areas frequently exceed 40°C (104°F), particularly in the northern plains and central regions.

Average annual rainfall is about 100 to 150 centimeters (39 to 59 inches) across much of the country. Rainfall is much lower in parts of northwestern India, where annual totals may range from only 15 to 30 centimeters (6 to 12 inches), particularly in the Thar Desert region. In contrast, the northeastern states and sections of the Western Ghats along the west coast receive some of the heaviest rainfall in the world, averaging 150 to 250 centimeters (59 to 98 inches) annually, with some localities receiving considerably more. These large variations in rainfall strongly influence India's agriculture, vegetation, and water resources.

The summer months (April-June) are hot and nearly unbearable as the monsoon approaches. Temperatures sometimes top 50 degrees C (120 degrees F) in Delhi in June. The only consolation is the humidity is relatively low. In the drier months, road travel is easier but the countryside is often brown and dusty. This a good time of year to visit the hill stations, the mountains and highlands. In the autumn after the monsoon ends the humidity is high.

Variety of Climates in India

South Asia is subject to a wide range of climates. A humid tropical climate is found along the lower east (Coromandel) and west (Malabar) coasts of southern peninsula India and the Ganges Delta. Most of the peninsula and the Ganges-Brahmaputra lowlands have a moist subtropical to temperate climate, while the semi-arid steppe and dry desert in the far west have a subtropical to temperate climate. The northern mountains display zonal stratification ranging from moist subtropical to dry arctic depending on altitude. In the Himalayan there are freezing winters. From November to February, the northern half of the country experiences frost, but by May, temperatures as high as 49°C (120°F) in the shade may be recorded. High relative humidity is common from April to September. Extratropical cyclones (similar to hurricanes) often hit the coasts between April and June and between September and December. The states of Assam and West Bengal in the northeast are damp and rainy. Based on precipitation and temperature, experts define seven climatic regions: the Himalayas, Assam and West Bengal, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Western Ghats and coast, the Deccan (the interior of the Peninsula south of the Narmada River), and the Eastern Ghats and coast. [Source: Library of Congress; Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007]

The Rajasthan Desert in the northwest is very dry and can be very hot. Villages in the Thar Desert there may experience less than 13 centimeters (5 inches) of rainfall yearly, while some areas near Bangladesh average about 1,140 centimeters (450 inches) yearly. Winter snowfall is normal for the northern mountains and valleys, but for most of India, scorching spring dust storms and severe hailstorms are more common. The Deccan interior of southern India is semi-arid in the west and wet in the east. The Indo-Gangetic plain is subtropical, with frost in the western interior in winter and very hot summers. India's rainfall depends on the monsoon and is therefore variable. It is heaviest in Assam and West Bengal, as well as along the southern coasts. It is moderate in the inland peninsular regions and scanty in the arid northwest, especially in Rajasthan and Punjab.[Source: Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., Columbia University Press]

Assam and West Bengal are extremely wet and humid. The southeastern part of the state of Meghalaya has the world's highest average annual rainfall, some 10.9 meters (35.7 feet) a year The Indo-Gangetic Plain has a varied climatic pattern. Rainfall and temperature ranges vary significantly between the eastern and western extremes. In the Peninsula region, the Western Ghats and the adjoining coast receive heavy rains during the southwest monsoon. Rainfall in the peninsular interior averages about 650 millimeters a year, although there is considerable variation in different localities and from year to year. The Eastern Ghats receive less rainfall than the western coast. Rainfall there ranges between 900 and 1,300 millimeters annually. *

The northern Deccan region, bounded by the Western Ghats, the Vindhya Range and the Narmada River to the north, and the Eastern Ghats, receives most of its annual rainfall during the summer monsoon season. The southern Deccan area is in a "rain shadow" and receives only fifty to 1,000 millimeters of rainfall a year. Temperature ranges are wide — from some 15̊C to 38̊C — making this one of India's most comfortable climatic areas.

Throughout most of non-Himalayan India, the heat can be oppressive and sometimes, such as was experienced in 1994 and 1995, literally can be a killer. Hot, relatively dry weather is the norm before the southwest monsoons, which, along with heavy rains and high humidity, bring cloud cover that lowers temperatures slightly. Temperatures reach the upper 30s̊C and can reach as high as 48̊C during the day in the premonsoon months.

Rainfall and Storms in India

India's weather is characterised by sudden and intense changes, such as the onset of the monsoon season, flash flooding and violent thunderstorms. In winter and spring, dry air comes from the northeast, and in summer, rains come from the southwest of the Indian Ocean. The arrival of the south-west monsoon is unpredictable, as is its duration. Cyclones from the Indian Ocean often affect coastal areas between April and June and between September and December. [Source: Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

Rainfall in India varies greatly, from less than 13 centimeters (5 inches) per year in the Thar Desert to an average of 10.5 meters (35 feet) per year in Cherrapunji in the northeastern mountains, known as the world's rainiest place. The average rainfall for India as a whole is 105 centimeters (41.3 inches). The vast majority of this precipitation deluges the subcontinent during the south-west monsoon period. Snow falls in the Himalayas, where hailstorms also occur and sweep down over the peninsula. Dust storms affect many regions of India.

India's weather is characterised by sudden, intense changes such as the onset of the monsoon, flash flooding and violent thunderstorms. Cyclones from the Indian Ocean frequently impact coastal regions from April to June and from September to December. Dust storms affect many regions of India. [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Physical Geography, Gale Group, Inc., 2003]

Monsoon Season in India

The Monsoon Season is rainy but still a good time to visit India if you make some adjustments. The monsoon begins in June and end in August, September or October with most of the rain falling in the first three months. But that isn’t always the case. Some monsoon-drenched regions receive most of their precipitation between mid-October and the end of December. The monsoon generally breaks at the beginning of June on the southwest coast of India, and gradually break in all parts of the country, except the southeastern areas, after that.

Rains tend to fall in short afternoon downpours during the monsoon season. The countryside is lush and green and beautiful but the jungles are full of leeches and dirt roads in remote areas become impassable. Often times the high humidity is more of a problem than the rain. Clothes don’t dry; fungus grows in shoes; and the weather seems hotter than it really is. There are also more mosquitos and other insects buzzing around than in drier periods of the year.

In much of southern India there are two monsoons: the southwest monsoon from mid-June to early September; and the northeast monsoon from mid-October to the end of the November. The rest of the year is dry with occasional showers. In West Bengal and Bangladesh the monsoon season lasts longer than other parts of South Asia. It can extend from April to mid-November.

The monsoon season in India more less coincides with the rainy seasons in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, China and Japan but is different from the rainy seasons on the west coast of Malaysia (from September to November) and rainy season in Singapore, Borneo, Indonesia and the east coast of Malaysia (November to January). The cyclone season is from June to October. Most cyclones hit the Bay of Bengal between Bangladesh and the east coast of India.

Winters in India and Fogs in Delhi

Northwestern India is hot and dry and cool in the winter. Northeastern India and the Himalayan regions is wetter and cooler that northwestern India. Most of southern India is hot and humid the year round with the exception of Tamil Nadu in southeast India which is hot and dry. . The winter months (November-March) are the best time to travel in India as a whole. The temperatures are relatively mild, the days are bright and sunny, humidity is low, and there isn’t much rain.

The foothills of the Himalayas sometimes receive quite bit of snow. Winter is more severe in the northern plains than in the southern, eastern and western parts of the country, which remain pleasantly cool. The temperatures in Delhi sometimes drop into the teens C (40s F) at night. Some houses and buildings are very cold because they have nothing to heat them or only have kerosene place heaters.

Widespread winter fog and low visibility are defining characteristics of the Indo-Gangetic plains in northern India. The Himalayas block cold winds from Central Asia, trapping cooler air masses over the northern plains. This causes the lower atmosphere's "boundary layer" to shrink, compressing surface emissions into a much smaller volume of air. Weather systems from the west bring moisture and cloudy skies into the region. Once these systems pass, high-pressure conditions take over, resulting in clear skies at night that cause rapid radiative cooling at night and dense fog in the mornings.

Impacts of Winter Fogs on Delhi and Northern India

Dense fogs typically hit Delhi and parts of northern India in the winter and often seriously disrupt air, train and road travel. Sometimes visibility is reduced to 50 meter and airports are closed and flights are diverted and trains are delayed for hours, even days. Fogs and smog are a fixture of winter in Delhi and northern India. They are caused by a combination of high moisture from the Indo-Gangetic plains, trapped cool air near the surface, and heavy particulate pollution. This mix creates stagnant, zero-visibility conditions that disrupt daily life, especially transportation and health, across the region.

The formation of this dense winter fog is driven by several interconnected factors: The Indo-Gangetic plains are highly irrigated. Moisture from winter crops, natural water bodies, and occasional winter rains (Western Disturbances) saturates the lower atmosphere. During winter nights, the ground cools rapidly. The warm air above it acts like a lid, trapping the cold, moist air close to the earth's surface and preventing it from rising. Stagnant winds which occur at this time of the year mean that the moisture and pollutants cannot be blown away, allowing the air to cool to its dew point and form dense fog. Delhi's high levels of winter pollution from vehicles, construction, and biomass burning provide an abundance of microscopic particles known as aerosols. Water vapor quickly condenses around these particles, creating a thick, toxic smog.

Winter fogs in Delhi and northern India significantly disrupt transportation, exacerbate severe air pollution, and pose major health and safety risks. Blinding fog and low visibility severely impact flight schedules at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. It often forces authorities to implement low-visibility procedures and mandate that only certified pilots operate flights, causing major delays and diversions. Hundreds of long-distance and commuter trains running across the Indo-Gangetic Plain face massive delays or cancellations. To combat this, Indian Railways equips locomotives with GPS-based Fog Safety Devices that alert drivers to upcoming signals in near-zero visibility. Zero to near-zero visibility creates extreme hazards on major highways like the Yamuna Expressway and Eastern Peripheral Expressway. This regularly triggers multi-vehicle pileups and causes tragic, sometimes fatal, traffic accidents.

The meteorological conditions that cause natural fog —namely, calm winds and sinking cold air (temperature inversions)—prevent pollutants from dispersing. When the fog interacts with airborne particles from vehicle emissions, industry, and regional agriculture, it creates a toxic, stagnant smog. This pushes the Air Quality Index (AQI) into 'Severe' to 'Hazardous' territory for days on end.Public Health RisksRespiratory Issues: The highly polluted fog exposes millions to high levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles. This leads to severe spikes in respiratory distress, asthma attacks, and cardiovascular issues. Children, the elderly, and individuals with preexisting health conditions are strongly advised by health organizations to limit early morning outdoor activities and wear protective masks when smog levels peak.

Climate of the Himalayas and Mountains in India

The best time to visit the mountains is in October, November and early December. The second best time is late March, April and May. June to September is the monsoon season, when large amounts of snow are deposited in the mountains and huge downpours ravage the foothills. Kashmir and some other places do not receive much rain the monsoon season because mountains block out of the monsoon clouds. In January and February it is cold in the Himalayas and relatively comfortable in the southern foothills. The southern foothills are particularly hot in the months preceding the monsoon.

In the Himalayan region, climate varies with altitude. At about 2,000 meters, the average summer temperature is near 18̊C; at 4,500 meters, it is rarely above 0̊C. In the valleys, summer temperatures reach between 32̊C and 38̊C. The eastern Himalayas receive as much as 100 to 200 centimeters meters of precipitation — much more than do the Western Himalayas — and floods are common.

For every 500 meters climbed in the Himalayas the temperature drops 3̊C (about 4.5̊F). At the summits of high mountains winds can kick up to 135 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour) and temperatures can drop many degrees below zero. The southern side of the Himalayas are like a huge climatic wall. During the summer monsoon winds push massive rain clouds against the mountains squeezing out rain onto some of the wettest places on earth. On the leeward, rain-blocked side of the range, on the Tibetan plateau, are some of the driest and most barren places on the planet.

Desert Climate in India

In the deserts in western India the high temperatures are in the lower 20s C (70s F) during November and December, and in the upper 20s (80s F) from January through April and September and October. From May to August it is extremely hot. It is not unusual for the temperature to hit 49°C (120° F) in the deserts of Rajasthan.

The air in the desert is generally dry and the humidity is low. Many places go years without seeing any rain and when it does rain it comes in a deluge. The temperatures in the desert can also drop quite low at night. In the northern desert temperature can drop below freezing as late as April. The annual rainfall in parts of northwestern India range from only 15 to 30 centimeters (6 to 12 inches),

The Thar Desert in western India receives most of its limited rainfall from the southwest summer monsoon, which occurs between July and September. Although it is one of the driest regions in South Asia, about 80 to 90 percent of its annual precipitation falls during this short monsoon season.

Rainfall in the Thar is highly variable and unpredictable. Annual precipitation ranges from less than 10 centimeters (4 inches) in the western desert to about 50 to 60 centimeters (20–24 inches) along its eastern margins. The irregular nature of the monsoon often results in prolonged dry periods, and some areas may experience years with little or no significant rainfall, making drought a frequent feature of the region's climate.

Heat Waves in India

India experienced its worst heat wave in 50 years in May 1998. More than 2,500 people were killed. Global warming is believed to have been involved. Temperatures reached 51° C (123°F) and killed 3,000 people in India in 1998 as a whole. In June, 1994 temperatures soared to 49.5 ° C (121° F) in Rajasthan, leaving more than 400 people dead from heat related illnesses. One six-year old girl died of a heat stroke walking from the village bus stand to her rural hut. A construction worker told the Washington Post, "It is especially difficult for laborers. Sometimes everything goes hazy before my eyes. I get dizzy. I constantly have to keep watch on myself." At the same time, New Delhi thought it was going through a cold spell when temperatures dropped to 37° C (98°F) . Coca Cola got into trouble when it ran an ad campaign during hot spell which read "Thank God for the heat wave."

The India government said the heat had killed 3,500 people from 2015 to 2019. A heat wave in early summer of 2003 left more than 1,300 people dead, many from sunstroke and dehydration. Among the areas hardest hit were the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, where temperatures reached 49°C (120°F) and more than 1,200 people died. Temperatures reached 43° C (109° F) in Calcutta. The heat wave finally dissipated when the monsoon rain arrived, In 2002, a similar heat wave killed more than 1,000.

As global and local temperatures have risen, heatwaves have become regular occurrances in India — particularly in May and June before the onset of the monsoons. Describing a heat wave in May 2020, AFP reported: India is wilting under a heatwave, with the temperature in places reaching 50°C (122°F) and the capital enduring its hottest May day in nearly two decades. The hot spell is projected to scorch northern India for several more days, the Meteorological Department said, "with severe heat wave conditions in isolated pockets". Met officials said Churu in the northern state of Rajasthan was the hottest place on record at 50°Cs, while parts of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh sweltered in the high 40sC (110sF).. Parts of the capital, New Delhi, recorded the hottest May day in 18 years with the mercury hitting 47.6 Celsius. [Source: AFP, May 27, 2020]

Cold Snaps in India

Mark Twain wrote: “In India, “cold weather” is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.” But he never spent much time in the north.

Cold snaps in India occur periodically. They primarily target the northern regions of the country, sweeping across expanses of farmland and desert. This geographic zone includes the national capital territory of New Delhi as well as neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, and Punjab. While northern India is historically much more accustomed to extreme summer heat waves, climate change has increasingly linked the region to dangerous and volatile winter cold fronts. Even southern states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which possess tropical climates and rarely experience winter weather, occasionally suffer unprecedented cold waves.

The primary meteorological catalyst for these extreme drops in temperature is a weather phenomenon known as a western disturbance. These are intense cyclical storms originating over the Mediterranean Sea that travel eastward, causing sudden winter rains and dropping temperatures as they hit the subcontinent. Additionally, the cold weather is heavily driven by powerful, freezing winds originating from disturbances over the Himalayan mountain range. When these freezing northern and northeastern air currents combine with clear skies further south, they drag the mercury down across the country.

The severity of Indian cold snaps is heavily amplified by the prolonged presence of dense, blinding fog. Meteorological experts note that slowing wind speeds trap moisture and particulate matter close to the ground, creating a thick winter shroud. This lack of atmospheric movement also traps severe air pollution, which can skyrocket to levels more than 20 times what the World Health Organization considers safe. Furthermore, the thick fog acts as a physical blanket that blocks sunlight, dragging down maximum daytime temperatures for consecutive days.

Damage and deaths are often the result of being unprepared. Centralized heating systems are rare and millions of impoverished citizens and laborers live in mud and straw houses or sleep directly on roadside pavements without access to electricity, blankets, or heavy woolen clothing. Consequently, even when temperatures remain slightly above freezing, the weather proves lethal to a population accustomed to a tropical climate.

Deadly Cold Weather Events in the 2000s

A cold spell brought in by cold winds from the Himalayas in December 2002 and January 2003 left more than 1,800 people dead in India and Bangladesh. More than 400 people died in northern Bangladesh, many of them of them children and elderly people who lived in mud and straw houses without heat. Most if the dead in India were in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar state. Varanasi recorded its lowest temperatures in 40 years, (33° F, or 0.6° C).

The temperature did not drop below freezing (the coldest temperature, 34° F (1.2° C), was recorded in the northern Indian city if Kanpur. Still the cold proved to be devastating to people used to tropical temperature who live in homes without heat and electricity, and don’t have warm clothing. A wave of damp weather in December, 2003 left about 30 people dead on Madhya Pradesh and northern India.

A cold spell in December 2003 and January 2004 killed more than 400 people across South Asia The death toll was particularly high in Nepal and Bangladesh. Clothes were given to the homeless and bonfires were built in an effort to prevent even more deaths.

A cold spell in January and February 2005 left hundreds dead across India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. People were killed by freezing temperatures, avalanches and food shortages. At one stage India reported 236 dead, Pakistan reported 346 dead and the Red Cross in Afghanistan reported 2006 dead there. Helicopters dropped food, blankets and clothes to places denied road access by snow.

Cold Weather Events in the 2010s

In January 2010, dozens of homeless individuals froze to death in Uttar Pradesh, while Amritsar saw temperatures plummet directly to zero° Celsius. Two years later, in January 2012, an unprecedented freak cold snap struck southern India, causing 15 deaths in coastal Andhra Pradesh. During this freak event, Madikeri in Karnataka recorded its coldest day in 132 years at 4.8° C (40.6°F), while Mysore hit a 120-year low of 7.7° C (46°F). [Source: BBC, January 18 2012, January 4 2010]

Subsequent years brought even higher casualties, heavily concentrated among the most vulnerable populations. A historic freeze in January 2013 killed more than 114 people in Uttar Pradesh alone, with most bodies discovered on sidewalks or in public parks. In December 2014, a similar cold wave claimed over 130 lives across northern and eastern India, with 124 of those fatalities occurring in Uttar Pradesh. During this period, the town of Churk in Mirzapur became the coldest localized area, registering a bitter low of 0.5° C (33°F). [Source: Gulf News, December 29 2014; South China Morning Post 4 January, 2013]]

A cold wave in late 2019 brought Delhi capital to a standstill, culminating in New Delhi's coldest December day in 119 years at 9.4° C (49°F). The extreme weather prompted widespread school closures and overwhelmed local hospitals with waves of patients suffering from pneumonia and severe respiratory infections. Blinding fog caused massive highway pileups and skidding accidents that killed six people in nearby Noida, while simultaneously disrupting hundreds of commercial flights and trains. Shortages quickly crippled local markets as the sudden demand for basic heating appliances and woolen sweaters caused retail prices to double within a single week [Source: Hari Kumar and Sameer Yasir, New York Times, January 1, 2020]

El Nino and Droughts in India

El Niño is a periodic climate condition that occurs an average of every five years. It is strongest in the Pacific but has global ramifications. Caused when a dominate high pressure system over the Pacific collapses, it causes wind directions and ocean currents in the Pacific to change direction, throwing off prevailing winds and bringing drought to Indonesia, southern Asia, typhoons to Japan, and disruptions to monsoons in India. El Niño causes drought in India. In 1630, 5 million people died in India from an El Niño-induced drought and famine. La Niña brings higher temperatures and more rainfall to Australia, Indonesia and Southeast Asia and causes heavier rainfalls in the monsoon season in India.

If the monsoon rains fail, crops often fail. Droughts shrivel crops and drive people to the cities. Those left behind survive on roti, corn and chilies. A drought in South Asia in the late 1990s and 2000s provoked a massive exodus from the deserts to the cities. A drought in 1987 was also bad.

Monsoon droughts can persists for two or three season. One drought in ancient times lasted for 12 years: lakes, wells and springs all dried up, crops and animals disappeared, heaps of bones were left everywhere, people abandoned cities and villages, domesticated animals attacked one another. People avoided each other because they feared each other. According to one epic poem "in that dreadful age when righteousness was at an end, men began to eat one another."

In April 2000, some 50 million people in Orissa and the eastern states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra were affected by the worst drought to hit India in a century. Thousands of animals died of starvation. Aquifers and wells ran dry and people were forced to drink contaminated water, which caused them to get diarrhea. In some places women were lowered on ropes into 200-foot-deep wells to collect water

The drought in 2002 was the worst in 15 years. In June and July, the first two months of the monsoon, rainfall was 40 percent what it usually is. In northern Haryana, part of India’s breadbasket, the rains were 70 percent below average. The drought was so bad it caused a half percent drop in economic growth for the nation as a whole.

The 2002 drought was particularly nasty in Tamil Nadu. Reservoirs were bone dry and sprouted wild flowers and short cut paths. There was no running water in homes. Water pumps were covered with dust. Water had to be brought in by tanker trucks, around which long lines formed after they arrived. In some places the situation was do desperate that fathers sold their daughter’s dowery jewelry to buy bottled for their families could drink and wash with.

Cyclones in India

Tropical cyclones are warm-core, low pressure systems without any "front" attached, that develop over the tropical or subtropical waters, and have an organized circulation. Depending upon location, tropical cyclones have different names around the world. 1) In the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans they are called Hurricanes. 2) In the Western Pacific they are called Typhoons. 3) In the Indian Ocean they are called Cyclones. Indian ocean Cyclones are usually associated with the Bay of Bengal but they can also occur in the Arabian Sea.

Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal affect eastern India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region accounts for a disproportionate share of global cyclonic activity and storm-related casualties due to warm waters and a unique funnel-shaped geography. Tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal generally head to India and Bangladesh not Myanmar.[Source: IPE Global}

The cyclone season in the northern hemisphere is from June to October. Cyclones are most likely to strike in the spring and fall. The cyclone season in the Bay of Bengal spans two primary periods: the pre-monsoon season from April to early June and the highly active post-monsoon season from October to December. While the number of cyclones before the summer monsoon. is lower than in the post-monsoon period, they are often extremely powerful and destructive. These storms generally track northward, making landfall on the eastern coast of India, Bangladesh, or Myanmar. [Source: IPE Global}

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 3: South Asia,” edited by Paul Hockings, 1992, National Geographic, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India,, CIA World Factbook, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, Live Science, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated June 2026