Home › UPPCS › Indian Geography › Gap Sheets › Rainfall and Local Winds
UPPCS Indian Geography Gap Sheet: Rainfall and Local Winds.
UPPCS has asked 15 of these. 5 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
Most of India's rain comes from the south-west monsoon (June to September). It splits into the Arabian Sea branch and the Bay of Bengal branch.
Rain falls heavily on the windward side of a hill and little on the far side: the rain-shadow. So Mumbai gets far more rain than Pune, and Cherrapunji far more than Shillong.
Tamil Nadu's coast gets most of its rain later, from the north-east (retreating) monsoon in October to December.
Before the monsoon, short local storms have their own names. UPPCS asks the name with its region.
✅ Already asked (15)
Wettest and driest places
- Mawsynram · Meghalaya; the highest average rainfall in the world
- Cherrapunji (Sohra) · Meghalaya, Khasi hills
- Mahabaleshwar · Western Ghats, Maharashtra; very heavy rain
- Leh · Ladakh; one of the driest places, a cold desert
- Jaisalmer · Rajasthan; very low rainfall in the Thar
Rain-shadow areas
- Pune and the Deccan · Lee side of the Western Ghats
- Shillong · Gets much less rain than Cherrapunji, which lies near it
- Ladakh · Behind the Great Himalaya; almost no monsoon rain
Local storms and winds
- Mango showers · Pre-monsoon showers of Kerala and Karnataka; help mangoes ripen
- Kalbaisakhi (Nor'westers) · Evening thunderstorms of West Bengal and Odisha in April–May
- Loo · Hot, dry summer wind of the northern plains
- Western disturbances · Winter rain in Punjab, Haryana and the hills; good for the rabi crop
Monsoon facts
- Kerala onset (about 1 June) · The monsoon reaches the mainland first in Kerala
- North-east monsoon of Tamil Nadu · October to December rain on the Coromandel coast
- El Niño · Warm Pacific waters; usually weakens the Indian monsoon
❌ Not asked yet (5)
🔒 5 items not asked yet
Wettest and driest places: 1 · Local storms and winds: 2 · Monsoon facts: 2
The UPPCS Pass opens every Repeat List and Gap Sheet, in English and Hindi.
Unlock the UPPCS Pass · ₹149Already bought? Enter your key
An All Access key works too.
⚠️ Mawsynram, not Cherrapunji, has the highest average rainfall now. Mango showers help mangoes, cherry blossoms help coffee: do not swap them. Tamil Nadu gets most rain in winter, not June–September.
'Asked' and 'not asked' are checked against every UPPCS question on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.