Question

The receding or retreating monsoon season occurs during the months of ________.

• A. January and February
• B. August and September
• C. November and December
• D. September and November

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

September and November

Retreating monsoon season commences with the beginning of the withdrawal of the south-west monsoon [mid September – November] and lasts till early January. It is a 3-month long process where it starts from the peninsula in October and from the extreme south-eastern tip by December. The south-west monsoons withdraw from the Coromandel coast in mid-December. In Punjab, the south-west monsoons withdraw from there in the second week of September. During this period, the temperature comes down sharply. The sky also becomes clear. The most severe and destructive tropical cyclones are originated in the Indian seas and the Bay of Bengal during the retreating monsoons. It is during the retreating monsoon season in India that the southeastern coast receives a lot of rainfall; tropical cyclones also occur during this time. The state of Tamil Nadu receives almost half of its annual rainfall during this time. This is called the winter monsoon or the northeast monsoons.