In India, there is a great variation in temperature and rainfall, not only from place to place, but also from season to season. The distribution and the occurrence of rainfall in India have the following characteristics:
i. The extremes of humidity and rainfall are experienced almost everywhere.
ii. About 75 per cent of the total annual rainfall is from the Southwest Monsoon winds during the period from June to September.
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iii. The rainfall from the monsoon winds is highly variable and quite unreliable.
iv. The monsoon winds may reach India much before its due date or may be considerably delayed.
v. The total amount of rainfall is either more than normal or much less than the normal.
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vi. Some parts of the country always face either the danger of floods due to excessive rainfall or drought and famine conditions due to scanty rainfall.
vii. The variability of rainfall in amount, time and space creates unstable conditions for agriculture, which hampers the economy.
viii. The rainfall occurs for a few months in the year, i.e. from June to September (the season of the Southwest Monsoons).
ix. The rainfall is basically torrential in nature. Even in the rainy season of about four months, the actual rainy days are 40 to 45 days only.
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x. The heavy downpour occurs with cyclones, which originate in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. It results in floods and excessive soil erosion.
xi. The distribution of rainfall is largely controlled by the relief features.
xii. The economy and the lifestyle of the people depend largely on the amount and distribution of rainfall, as the whole country is predominantly agrarian.