Break in the monsoon

Geography glossary

Topic: Climate of India and the Monsoon · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Climate"

Meaning

A break in the monsoon is a dry spell of a week or more that comes after some days of rain, in the middle of the southwest monsoon season (June–September). It matters because the monsoon does not give steady rain every day. Long breaks can harm kharif crops in rain-fed areas. At the same time, a break can bring floods to the Himalayan foothills.

Explanation

Why rain stops in north India

  • The rain-makers become rare:
  • Much of north and central India's rain comes from monsoon depressions. These are low-pressure systems that form over the head of the Bay of Bengal.
  • They move west-north-west along the monsoon trough and bring heavy rain along their path. (NCERT: in July–August, they come every third to fifth day.)

  • When few of these rain-bearing storms form, the plains get little rain. This is a break.

  • The monsoon trough shifts north:

  • Monsoon trough: a long low-pressure belt that stretches from north-west India (Rajasthan) to the head of the Bay of Bengal during the monsoon. It is the Indian part of the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone: the low-pressure belt where winds from the two hemispheres meet).
  • Sometimes the trough moves north to the Himalayan foothills.
  • Result: heavy rain and floods in the foothills and the Himalayan rivers, while the plains of central and north India stay dry.

Why rain stops on the west coast

  • Normal rain: the south-west wind hits the Western Ghats almost at a right angle. It is pushed up the slopes, cools, and gives heavy rain on the windward side (the side facing the wind).
  • During a break:
  • The winds blow parallel to the coast instead of straight onto it.
  • Nothing forces the air to rise, so it does not cool and its water vapour does not condense.
  • Result: dry days on the west coast, even in the middle of the rainy season.

Active–break cycles

  • The monsoon has active spells (heavy rain) and break spells (dry days), one after the other.
  • These cycles are linked to the MJO (Madden–Julian Oscillation: a belt of cloud and rain that moves eastward along the equator every 30–60 days).
  • 2025 example: the monsoon trough moved north of its normal position. This caused a break-like spell from 2 to 12 August 2025. The monsoon became active again from 19 to 25 August 2025 [2].

Where it occurs

  • Plains of north and central India: these stay dry when the monsoon trough leaves its normal line from Rajasthan to the head of the Bay of Bengal, or when few depressions travel along it.
  • Himalayan foothills and Himalayan rivers: these get heavy rain and floods while the plains are in a break.
  • West coast of India: Konkan, Goa, coastal Karnataka and Kerala, below the Western Ghats (Sahyadri). These dry out when the winds blow parallel to the coast.
  • Track of monsoon depressions: Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh lose their rain when depressions from the head of the Bay of Bengal become rare.
  • Recent case: India, 2–12 August 2025, a break-like spell caused by the trough moving north [2].

Don't confuse with

  • Withdrawal (retreat) of the monsoon: this is the end of the season, starting from west Rajasthan (2025: began on 14 September; normal date 17 September) [2]. A break is a short pause inside the season, and rain comes back after it.
  • Rain shadow area: a dry zone that stays dry every season because of relief, for example Pune and Bengaluru on the leeward (away from the wind) side of the Western Ghats. A break is temporary and can affect even the wettest windward coast.
  • Dry Coromandel coast in June–September: Tamil Nadu is dry for the whole southwest monsoon season. It lies parallel to the Bay of Bengal branch and in the rain shadow of the Arabian Sea branch. That is a regular seasonal pattern, not a break.
  • Active spell: the opposite of a break. It is a period of heavy rain, when depressions move along the trough in its normal position.

Prelims Hooks

  • A break is a dry spell of a week or more that comes after some days of rain, in the middle of the rainy season.
  • Break in north India: few rain-bearing storms form along the monsoon trough, or the trough shifts to the Himalayan foothills.
  • Trap: during a north-India break, the foothills flood while the plains stay dry. A break is not dry everywhere.
  • Break on the west coast: winds blow parallel to the coast, so the air is not forced to rise.
  • The monsoon trough is the Indian part of the ITCZ. It stretches from Rajasthan to the head of the Bay of Bengal.
  • Active–break cycles are linked to the MJO, which moves eastward along the equator every 30–60 days. The 2025 break-like spell ran from 2 to 12 August [2].

Mains Points

  • Breaks drive floods and droughts at the same time:
  • When the trough shifts north, the Himalayan foothills and rivers flood while the plains of central and north India stay dry.

  • The break-like spell of 2–12 August 2025 is a recent case [2]. This makes breaks relevant to GS-III disaster management.

  • Impact on agriculture:

  • Long breaks damage kharif crops in rain-fed areas, especially where rain is already low, such as the rain-shadow belts of interior Maharashtra and Karnataka.

  • Response: medium-range forecasts, contingency crop plans, irrigation and watershed management.

  • Breaks show how the monsoon really works:

  • The monsoon is a set of pulses that depend on the trough position, the number of depressions and the MJO. It is not steady rain.
  • This explains why the season total alone does not show whether farmers had a good season. When the rain comes matters as much as how much falls.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1Class 11, Ch 4 "Climate" (primary)
  2. 2IMD, "Salient Features of the Monsoon 2025"mausam.imd.gov.in · tier 1