• Question: what time of year is a monsoon

    Asked by ramz555 to Adam, Catherine, Karen, Leila, Nazim on 19 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Adam Stevens

      Adam Stevens answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      ‘Monsoon’ is actually a generic term for when a general wind system drastically changes direction (i.e. turns around. The term doesn’t really mean rainfall, it is associated with that because these changes of wind direction are what causes the massive amounts of seasonal rainfall in southeast asia and africa, but it happens in other places as well.

      They happen twice a year (wherever) but the actual time depends on which area.

    • Photo: Nazim Bharmal

      Nazim Bharmal answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      The monsoon is the word used in India to describe the wet air that comes over the country in summer, and brings a whole lots of rain with it. The timing varies and can be devastating to many farmers if it fails.

      There is a West African monsoon that is vital to people living in countries just below the Sahara, and there it varies depending on how far north you are: in the south, like Nigeria, the monsoon arrives in spring, disappears in summer (as it travels north), and reappears in autumn. In Niger, above Nigeria, the monsoon arrives in late spring, dies down a bit, and then returns and passes in early autumn. A bit further north, the monsoon comes and goes in the middle of summer.

      There is also one more monsoon in North America but it is not very strong. Some people say there is even a monsoon in Northern Australia, but that again isn’t a very strong one. The common thing is that you need a big ocean near the equator and near a large land mass like a continent.

    • Photo: Leila Battison

      Leila Battison answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      it depends where you are in the world, but mostly in the summer.

      In Africa it is between Late June and October
      In North America it’s between Early July and September
      In Asia it’s from June to September.
      In Australia it’s from December to February (the summer in Australia!)

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