Indian Climate and Seasons

Great Indian Desert sometimes receives poor and erratic rainfall during the advancing monsoon season. But Lahul-Spiti region does not experience ANY rainfall in advancing monsoon season due to its extreme continentality (location is too interior for the moisture-laden winds to encroach) and Coromandel coast also does not receive ANY rainfall. It lies on the leeward side (rain-shadow area) of the Western Ghats because of which it does not receive any rainfall in summer due to the south-west monsoon.

The season of retreating monsoon is marked by clear skies and rise in temperature. The land is still moist. Owing to the conditions of high temperature and humidity, the weather becomes rather oppressive. This is commonly known as the 'October heat'. (Hence, option 3 is correct). In the second half of October, the mercury begins to fall rapidly, particularly in northern India. The weather in the retreating monsoon is dry in North India but it is associated with rain in the eastern part of the Peninsula. Here, October and November are the rainiest months of the year. The widespread rain in this season is associated with the passage of cyclonic depressions which originate over the Andaman Sea and manage to cross the eastern coast of the southern Peninsula. These tropical cyclones are very destructive. The thickly populated deltas of the Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri are their preferred targets. (Hence, option 1 is correct).

Himalayan rivers are primarily snow-fed because they originate from glaciers and snow-melt in the high Himalayan ranges. While these rivers do receive monsoon rainfall during the rainy season, their primary and perennial source of water is the continuous melting of snow and glaciers. This is why Himalayan rivers flow year-round, unlike purely monsoon-fed rivers that may dry up in non-monsosoon months.

The regions which have 10-20 cm rainfall in October and November and less than 5 cm in rest of the months belong to Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.

India receives over 70% of its annual rainfall from the southwest monsoon (June-September). The northeast monsoon brings rain to Tamil Nadu but is much smaller overall. Tropical cyclones are seasonal and localized.

This is the correct answer. Monsoon refers to the seasonal reversal in the wind direction during a year.

Meghalaya receives over 400 cm of annual precipitation. This is the correct answer.

This is the correct answer. Kal Baisakhi is associated with West Bengal.

The leeward side of the Western Ghats is an area of highly variable rainfall. It gets low rainfall and is drought prone.

This is the correct answer as the low-pressure conditions over northwestern India get transferred to the Bay of Bengal by early November. This shift is associated with the occurrence of cyclonic depressions, which originate over the Andaman Sea.

This is the correct answer as the monsoon retreats completely from the northern plains by early October.

This is the correct answer as both these statements are correct. Monsoon is known for its uncertainities and vagaries. There occur breaks or dry spells during the Indian monsoon.

This is the correct answer as both the statements give the correct reasons for Chennai receiving high rainfall during the winter months. The North-East winds pick up moisture while crossing the Bay of Bengal. Chennai lies in the rain shadow area of the Western Ghats during summers.

The intertropical convergence zone is a broad trough of low pressure in equatorial latitudes. This is where the North-East and the South-East trade winds converge. This convergence zone lies more or less parallel to the equator, but moves North or South with the apparent movement of the sun. This is the cause of monsoon trough during the monsoon season and shifts the axis of the monsoon, and determines the spatial distribution of rainfall.

This is the correct option. The alternation of the monsoon and dry seasons defined the seasonal rhythms of the movements of the Gollas and the Kurubas.