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Questions
What is meant by a ‘Rain Shadow’ area?
What is the meaning of a rain shadow area?
What is meant by ‘rain-shadow region’?
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Solution 1
The leeward side of the hill is called ‘Rain Shadow’ area which remains dry because the winds are blocked by the hills.
Solution 2
The rain shadow area is the dry region on the leeward side (the side sheltered from the wind) of a mountain range. When moisture-laden winds are forced to rise over mountains, the air cools and condenses to form rainfall on the windward side. As the air descends on the opposite side, it becomes warmer and drier because most of the moisture has already been lost as precipitation. This results in very little or no rainfall on the leeward side, creating the rain shadow area.
A classic example of this is the Western Ghats in India. The monsoon winds bring heavy rain to the windward (western) side, while the leeward side receives hardly any rain and often faces acute water shortages. The rain shadow area tends to have sparse vegetation compared to the lush windward side.
Solution 3
A rain-shadow region or area is a dry stretch of land on the protected, leeward side of a mountain range. It forms as moisture-laden winds rise, chill, and deposit rain on the mountain's windward side. By the time the air passes over the peaks and falls, it has lost moisture, resulting in a heated, arid zone with little rainfall.
RELATED QUESTIONS
There is plenty of rain in India during the rainy season, yet we need irrigation. Give two reasons to support this statement.
Give geographical reasons for each of the following:
The Ganga Plains gets the monsoon rain much later than the west coast of India.
Study the climatic data of station x given below and answer the questions that follow:
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Temperature in °C |
24.5 | 25.7 | 27.7 | 28.4 | 30.0 | 36.2 | 31.0 | 30.2 | 29.8 | 28.0 | 25.9 | 24.7 |
| Rainfall cm | 4.6 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 4.6 | 8.6 | 11.4 | 11.8 | 30.6 | 35.0 | 13.9 |
- Calculate the total annual rainfall experienced by the station.
- What is the annual range of temperature?
- On which coast of India does the station lie? Give the reason for your answer.
Give a geographical reason for each of the following:
The Konkan coast experience orographic rainfall.
Why does the Tamil Nadu coast get rainfall in October?
Western coastal plains receive more rainfall than the Eastern coastal plains.
Mumbai receives rainfall in the summer season while Chennai receives rainfall from October to December. Why?
Equable and Extreme climates.
Name the winds which are responsible for heavy rainfall in India.
The source of the winter rain to Tamil Nadu.
