In a country where topography varies
wildly, climatic conditions are only bound to vary
wildly too.
Classified as a hot tropical country by many, that
is a definition that holds true for most of but not
all of India. Exceptions include the northern states
of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir in the north
and Sikkim in the northeastern hills.
In most of India summer is hot. It
begins in April and continues till the beginning of
October. The heat peaks in June with temperatures in
the northern plains and the west soaring above 46°
C. The monsoons hit the country during this period
too, beginning 1st of June when they are
supposed to find the Kerala coast. Moisture laden
trade winds sweep the country bringing relief to a
parched northern India but devastation in the east
where the rivers Brahmaputra and Ganga flood
annually. Tamil Nadu in the south receives rainfall
between October and December, beneficiary of the
retreating monsoons.
India’s extensive coastline lies
almost entirely below the Tropic of Cancer. The
coast is usually warm and moist, prone to heavy
rains in the monsoons and high summer temperatures.
The eastern coast is vulnerable to cyclones. Winters
here are mild and pleasantly sunny.
Hill Stations are the happy
peculiarity that came up here when British wives and
officers needed to flee the oppressive heat and
malaria of the plains. Quaint towns that buzz along
"mall roads", tucked away in hills all over India,
they are now weekend getaways at the height of
summer for families and couples from India’s cities.
The plains in the north and even the
barren countryside of Rajasthan reel under a cold
wave every year in December-January. Minimum
temperatures could dip below 4° C but maximum
temperatures usually do not fall lower than 12° C.
In the northern high altitude areas of Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, and parts of Uttar
Pradesh, it snows through the winter and even summer
months are only mildly warm.
