Seasons of India

At a Glance

• Winter December to February (cold weather)
• Summer March to May (hot weather)
• Monsoon June to September
• Retreating monsoon October and November
• Coldest and hottest January and May
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Geography: Indian Monsoon, Climate, Vegetation and Soils

Where Does It Fit?

This is the third topic of the macro on the Indian monsoon, climate, vegetation and soils. The previous topic gave the factors of the climate, and this one follows the year through the four seasons. The next topic describes the climatic regions of India. Previous topic: Features and Factors of Indian Climate. Next topic: Climatic Regions of India.

What Are the Four Seasons of India?

The Indian Meteorological Department now groups the year into winter (January to February), pre-monsoon (March to May), monsoon (June to September) and post-monsoon (October to December). The traditional four-season system is still the basis of questions.

What Happens in Winter and Summer?

• Winter temperatures: in the winter season the mean temperature is below 21 degrees Celsius in the north, with a mean minimum of about 5 degrees in the north-west and 10 degrees on the Gangetic plain, while it stays above 20 in the south, as in Features and Factors of Indian Climate. Dras in Ladakh is the coldest inhabited place.
• Western disturbances: temperate storms from the Mediterranean, moving in the westerly jet, bring winter rain and hail to the north-west, snow to the Himalaya and cold waves to the northern plains. This rain, small in amount, is of great value to the rabi crops, and its arrival is a major source of weather variation, as in Temperate Cyclones.
• Cold waves and fog: the IMD declares a cold wave when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below on the plains and the departure from the normal is at least 4.5 degrees. Dense fog hits the Indo-Gangetic plain and disrupts transport, as in Clouds, Fog and Forms of Condensation.
• Summer heat and the loo: in May, temperature rises to 45 degrees or more in the north-west. A heatwave is declared when the maximum reaches 40 degrees on the plains or 30 in the hills and is at least 4.5 degrees above normal. The loo, a hot, dry afternoon wind, blows across the north and north-west, as in Planetary, Seasonal and Local Winds.
• Pre-monsoon showers: Kalbaisakhi or nor’westers in West Bengal and Assam, where they are called Bordoichila; mango showers in the south, which help the mango crop, and blossom showers which help coffee in Karnataka and Keralam (Kerala).

What Happens in the Monsoon and the Retreat?

The monsoon season starts with the burst in early June over the west coast, then advances, covers the country by around 8 July and brings 75 to 80 per cent of the annual rain, as in Mechanism of the Indian Monsoon. Rain is heaviest on the windward west coast, Ghats, the north-east and Himalayan foothills, and falls from east to west on the plain. In the monsoon the temperature falls by 5 to 8 degrees, but humidity is high.

The retreating monsoon starts in mid-September and ends by mid-October to November. The sky clears, the land is still moist, and the temperature rises again, causing the October heat, an uncomfortable period of hot and humid weather. The low pressure moves south to the Bay of Bengal, and the cyclones of October to December hit the eastern coast, as in Path, Intensity Scale and Breeding Grounds of Tropical Cyclones. The northeast monsoon, the winds blowing from land to the sea in winter that pick up moisture over the Bay, gives most of the annual rain to the Tamil Nadu coast and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka from October to December. IMD reported the onset of the northeast monsoon around mid-October 2026, after the southwest monsoon withdrew, in a year of a strong El Niño, which tends to increase the northeast monsoon rain in the south.

As an analytical point, the seasons set the farming calendar: the kharif crops are sown with the monsoon, the rabi crops are sown in the cool season and depend on the western disturbances and the moisture left by the monsoon, and the zaid crops are grown in the summer, so a change in the timing or the strength of a season, such as an early heatwave in March or a late monsoon, has a direct effect on the harvest. The increasing heatwave days have led to Heat Action Plans, beginning with Ahmedabad in 2013, in many cities and states.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Core topic Seasons and local storms asked
• Hazards Heatwaves and cold waves
• Agriculture Crop calendar

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the climatic regions of India. Next topic: Climatic Regions of India.

Key People and Terms

• Loo Hot dry summer wind
• Kalbaisakhi Pre-monsoon storm of eastern India
• Mango showers Pre-monsoon rain in the south
• October heat Hot humid spell in the retreat
• Heatwave 40 degrees on plains and 4.5 above normal
• Northeast monsoon Winter winds bringing rain to Tamil Nadu

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for the features of each season. These points add depth.

• Winter Western disturbances
• Retreat Cyclones and northeast monsoon
• Risk Heatwave and cold wave