Monsoon

A monsoon is a seasonal reversal of prevailing winds, often bringing a rainy season as moist air flows toward land. It arises from seasonal differences in how land and ocean heat.

Land–sea breeze: A local wind system caused by differences in how land and water heat and cool. The same land–ocean temperature contrast drives monsoons on a much larger seasonal scale.
South Asian monsoon: The seasonal circulation that brings summer rains to the Indian subcontinent and nearby regions. It is the best-known large-scale monsoon system.
Monsoon forecasting: The prediction of monsoon onset, rainfall amount, and seasonal variability using observations and climate models. Forecasts guide preparation for rain-dependent farming and flood risks.
Indian Ocean Dipole: A climate pattern involving alternating sea-surface temperature anomalies in the western and eastern tropical Indian Ocean. Its phases can alter moisture supply and rainfall across parts of the monsoon region.
Trade winds: Persistent tropical easterly winds that blow toward the equatorial low-pressure belt. Unlike a monsoon, trade winds are not defined by a seasonal reversal.
Intertropical Convergence Zone: A belt of low pressure where trade winds converge and rising air produces frequent clouds and rain. Its seasonal migration helps shift tropical monsoon rain belts.
East Asian monsoon: A seasonal circulation bringing summer rain and winter cold, dry air to East Asia. Its fronts and rainfall patterns differ from those of the South Asian monsoon.
Rain-fed agriculture: Crop production that depends chiefly on rainfall rather than irrigation. Monsoon reliability determines planting opportunities and harvest prospects across many regions.
El Niño–Southern Oscillation: A recurring tropical Pacific climate pattern involving ocean warming or cooling and linked atmospheric changes. El Niño often weakens Indian summer monsoon rainfall, though the relationship varies.
Wet season: The part of the year when a region receives most of its annual precipitation. A wet season is a rainfall pattern; a monsoon is a seasonal wind circulation that can cause it.

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