Advancing and Retreating Monsoon

Before delving into the distinctions, all of you must understand what a monsoon is in geographical terms.

It is a periodic shift in the directions of a region’s prevalent, or strongest, winds. They are linked to the Indian Oceans and generate seasonal rainfall throughout the tropical.

Monsoon season always goes from cold to warm areas. The summertime and winter monsoons govern the climate of almost all of India and Southeast Asia.

Advancing monsoon

The South West Monsoon winds travel across warm waters, carrying moisture and providing bountiful rainfall to India. The monsoon rains blanket the entire nation in roughly a month. The entrance of the Monsoon winds causes a shift in the country’s weather. 

Whenever the monsoon season approaches, the rainfall may rise sharply, resulting in a rainy outburst. Monsoon winds deliver torrential rain on the Western Ghats’ western flank. The heavy downpours have ‘brakes’ at times. In other areas, it only rains for a few days at first.

While this rains heavily in the north-eastern region of the country, Kerala, and on the western coast of the Western Ghats, it rains slightly in the country’s south and the Indo Gangetic Plains. Rainfall has been scarce in western Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat.

Retreating monsoon

In northern India, the temperature begins to decline in October. This weakens the low pressure, which eventually fails to attract the southwest monsoon and begins to recede. Because the winds flowing from land to sea are dry, they do not create rainfall. This time of year, from October to November, is known as the receding monsoon.

The southwest monsoon provides the majority of India’s rainfall; however, Tamil Nadu is an exception. It receives the majority of its rainfall during this season, as the receding winds from the Bay of Bengal bring moisture and create rain.

Starting in early September, the rainfall had left west Rajasthan. Well before the end of the month, this will depart from Gujarat, the Western Ganga plain Rajasthan, and the Central Highlands.

The pressure drop had migrated through the northern portion of the Bay of Bengal by early October, and it had gone over Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by early November. The core of low pressure had moved completely away from the Peninsular by the middle of December.

A clear sky and a temperature rise characterize the southwest monsoon retreating season. Let us inform you that the soil is still wet. The weather becomes unpleasant due to the humidity, and this is referred to as ‘October heat.’

During the receding monsoon, the weather in north India is dry, but rain falls in the eastern section of the peninsula. As a result, October and November are the wettest months in this region.

Rain falls during this season as a result of cyclonic depressions that form over the Andaman Sea and make their way to the southern peninsula’s eastern shore. These tropical cyclones are extremely dangerous. The heavily populated coastal areas of the Krishna, Godavari and Kaveri rivers are their principal objectives.

West Bengal, Bangladeshi, and Burma have also been battered by cyclones. These depressions and cyclones provide the majority of the rainfall on the Coromandel coast. In the Arabian Sea, such cyclonic thunderstorms are less prevalent.

The distinction between retreating monsoon and advancing monsoon

• Wind movement is from sea to land in the event of an advancing monsoon. The wind is blowing from the southwest to the northeast. That, however, is not the case with the retreating monsoon. Wind movement is from land to sea in this case
• The second major distinction is that the approaching monsoons have most of the rainfall in India. However, retreating monsoon is unlikely to be responsible for any such rainfall. It rains, but not as much as one may expect from the advancing monsoon
• The Advancing Monsoon breezes reach India from the southern (in June) and proceed northern, spanning the entire nation in a month. The main point of attraction is currently the receding rainfall. When the temperatures on the Northern Plains lower in October and November, the gusts begin to recede
• The advancing monsoon season begins in June and finishes in September, whereas the retreating monsoon season begins in October and concludes in November
• The advancing monsoon brings rain to much of India, whereas the retreating monsoon brings rain to just the eastern coast of South India

Conclusion

By now, you must have got a clear understanding of what is monsoon and what are the differences between advancing and retreating monsoon. They both have varying characteristics and time period of action.