Monsoons

Monsoons are the single most important influence on climate in South Asia.

Monsoons are seasonal winds. They bring drenching rain that is a relief because of blazing hot
temperatures in the summer. In the winter the Himalaya Mountains block the cold north winds from
reaching this area.

Monsoons can be both a blessing and a curse for the people in this region.

In the summer, these seasonal winds can bring as much as 80" of rain to the countries of Nepal and
Bangladesh.

Scorching weather can precede the monsoons. Therefore, the rain can be a welcome relief due to
blazing hot temperatures and blistering heat that takes its toll on people and the land. Often school
cannot be held until the rains come because students have trouble concentrating during the heat.

However, the rain can also kill crops and people and cause flooding. The flooding can even lead to
dangerous mudslides. Rice, a major crop in this area, requires a lot of moisture so the people here rely
on the monsoons no matter how destructive they can be.

People in Bangladesh and Nepal often build their homes on stilts. Students might even need a boat to
get to school.

The torrential rainfall also aids farmers. Many farmers lack proper irrigation systems so the rain is vital
to the economy. These rains fill underground aquifers and wells to be used for the rest of the year.
Even factories and industry in India relies on the monsoons as a great deal of electricity in the region
comes from hydroelectric power plants that collect water during the monsoon rains.

If the summer monsoon rains are late, the economy suffers. Fewer people can grow their own food and
larger grocery businesses have less to sell. Often this forces India to import food making it more
expensive. Late monsoon rains also affect the price of electricity.

A "monsoon" is a weather pattern; a monsoon has a different name in each country

that it affects. In the Philippines, the Summer Monsoon (West or southwest) is
called the Habagat (ha-bag-at) and the Winter Monsoon (North or northeast) is
called the Amihan (a-me-han). The word 'monsoon' is believed to originate from
the Arabic word mawsim (season), via the Portuguese and then Dutch monsun.

A "monsoon" is a consistent wind pattern generated by a large weather system,

that lasts for a period of months and affects a large area of the planet.

Summer Southwest Monsoon - Habagat

Summer Monsoon weather is characterized by a strong, generally West or southwest breeze

that is responsible for bringing significant rainfall to the Asian subcontinent and to South
and East Asia. The significant southwest monsoon rainfall is a by-product of air passing over
large areas of warm equatorial ocean, stimulating increased levels of evaporation from the
ocean’s surface; the southwest monsoon air, now laden with water vapour, cools as it
moves north and as it rises over land; at some point the air is no longer able retain its
moisture and precipitates copious volumes to irrigate rice fields and drench rainforests,
sometimes causing severe flooding below hillsides that have been foolishly stripped of forest
cover by Man. The Summer Monsoon (West or southwest) is the predominant weather
pattern from late April through to early October each year, throughout most Asian tropical
destinations.

Winter Northeast Monsoon - Amihan

Winter Monsoon weather features a generally less strong, East or northeast breeze
that is cool and dry (compared to the Summer Monsoon weather) with prolonged
periods of successive cloudless days. The Winter Monsoon (North or northeast)
features cool and dry air that originates in a vast anticyclone - a weather system
with a high barometric pressure - which forms over Siberia, Mongolia and northern
China during each northern winter. The Winter Monsoon air from the anticyclone
pushes outward in a clockwise motion from its centre and competes with the
Summer Monsoon over a period of a week or two, usually starting in late
September and early October, before finally dominating the weather with a cooler
and drier northeast monsoon, in most Asian tropical and sub-tropical destinations,
through to the following April.

There is no specific weather pattern equivalent to a monsoon season in southern

latitudes because there is no continent large enough to create the conditions similar
to those that drive the alternate Winter Monsoon, as in the North. It could be said
that the southern hemisphere is perpetually in varying degrees of Summer
Monsoon condition; Brazil and parts of equatorial Africa occasionally experience
some weather patterns that show some seasonal differences.

Amihan is the name for the cool and dry northeast monsoon wind that blows
southeastward from Siberia and Manchuria in a clockwise Coriolis pattern out to the
Pacific Ocean then southwestward towards the Philippines during mid-November until
mid-February. This cold air does not pick up much moisture from the cool ocean waters.
Rain sometimes hits the country's eastern seaboard but the rest of the country usually
remains dry.

Habagat is the name for the warm and wet southwest monsoon wind that blows
northwestward from the warm seas around Celebes and the equator towards Asia but
veers northeastward to hit the western seaboard of the Philippines. This wind brings
humid air, thick clouds, and heavy rains to the country from mid-June to mid-
September. This wind strengthens whenever a typhoon enters the the "Philippine Area
of Responsibility" at this season, bringing heavy rains and floods.