NORTHEAST MONSOON - GEOGRAPHY
News: El
Nino-fuelled Northeast monsoon caused the deluge in south Tamil Nadu: Experts
What's in the news?
● Many
parts of southern Tamil Nadu got flooded on December 17-18, after the Chennai
floods due to Cyclone Michaung in early December. The cause for this is an
active Northeast monsoon (NEM) fuelled by the El Nino phenomenon, which is
peaking right now.
Northeast Monsoon:
● India receives rainfall
during two seasons.
● About
75 percent of the country’s annual
rainfall is received from the Southwest
monsoon between June and September.
● The
Northeast monsoon, on the other hand, occurs during October to December, and is
a comparatively small-scale monsoon, which is confined to the Southern
peninsula.
● It
is also called the winter monsoon,
giving rainfall only to 11 percent
of the regions in India.
Regions:
● The
rainfall associated with the Northeast monsoon is important for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam,
coastal Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, north interior Karnataka, Mahe and Lakshadweep.
Go back to basics:
Western Disturbances:
● Many
other parts of the country, like the Gangetic
plains and northern states, also receive some rain in November and December
but this is not due to the northeast monsoon, but caused mainly by the Western
Disturbances.
● It
is an eastward-moving rain-bearing wind
system that originates beyond Afghanistan and Iran, picking up moisture from as
far as the Mediterranean Sea, even the Atlantic Ocean.