Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Monsoon
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Monsoon Two world maps compare the Indian monsoon's climatic heat sources and sinks. The top map, labeled Summer Monsoon, highlights the monsoon trough over South Asia as a major heat source and the Mascarene High over the southwest Indian Ocean as a heat sink, with arrows indicating surface air flow from the ocean toward the continent. The bottom map, labeled Winter Monsoon, shows the Siberian High over northern Asia as a heat sink and the Maritime Continent region as a heat source, with air flow arrow Two side-by-side maps of Australia show seasonal rainfall patterns and the path of the Australian monsoon. The left map, for October 1 to April 30, displays bands of increasing rainfall from the interior to the northern and northeastern coasts, with black arrows indicating monsoon winds moving from the northwest across northern Australia. The right map, for April 1 to November 30, shows generally lower rainfall amounts, with the highest rainfall still in the north but no arrows indicating wind d Workers holding umbrellas harvest tea leaves among lush green bushes in an Assam tea plantation during monsoon rains, with tall trees in the background. monsoon Map showing the average date of onset of the summer monsoon across Asia. Map showing the withdrawal of the Indian monsoon, with orange lines and dates indicating the typical retreat timeline from northwestern India and Pakistan in early September, gradually moving southeast across the Indian subcontinent and reaching Sri Lanka by January 1. Surrounding countries and major water bodies such as the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal are labeled. Map of Pakistan showing areas affected by the 2010 flooding, with regions along the Indus River marked in red for severely affected areas and orange for moderately affected areas. Major cities such as Karachi, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Multan, Lahore, Peshawar, and Islamabad are labeled, along with provincial and international boundaries. Neighboring countries including Afghanistan, India, and China are also indicated. Two side-by-side maps of Africa show the seasonal path of the African monsoon. Arrows indicate wind systems, including the northeast trade winds and the hot, dry Harmattan winds. Shaded bands in varying greens represent rainfall amounts, with the Intertropical Convergence Zone shifting northward and rainfall bands reaching farther into West Africa from June to September, and moving southward with rainfall concentrated in central and southern Africa from January to March.
Quizzes
Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree
Facts You Should Know: Weather Quiz
Umbrella colored like a rainbow sticking out above a sea of black umbrellas while it rains. (storm, weather)
Weather Words Vocabulary Quiz
rain. Child in the rain, wearing a rain coat, under a yellow umbrella. April Showers weather climate rain storm water drops
April Showers to March’s Lions and Lambs

Monsoon: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Article title updated for style. Nov 11, 2026
Modified link of Web site: UCAR Center for Science Education - What Are Monsoons and Why Do They Happen? May 23, 2025
Add new Web site: UCAR Center for Science Education - What Are Monsoons and Why Do They Happen? Nov 25, 2022
Add new Web site: Academia - Indian Monsoon. Sep 10, 2022
Add new Web site: LiveScience - What Is a Monsoon? Feb 06, 2019
Add new Web site: National Geographic - Monsoon. Feb 06, 2019
Text delineating each of the prominent monsoon regions and the monsoonal tendencies that occur in Europe and North America added. Aug 26, 2009
Article thoroughly revised with examples of heat sources and sinks and how monsoonal winds shift at their poleward limits. May 29, 2009
Media added. Aug 28, 2008
Added new Web site: National Weather Service - The Monsoon. Nov 19, 2007
Added new Web site: University of Nebraska - Monsoon. Nov 19, 2007
Added new Web site: Auroville Universal Township - Monsoon. Nov 19, 2007
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
View Changes:
Article History
Revised:
By: