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Questions
What is meant by a ‘Rain Shadow’ area?
What is the meaning of a rain shadow area?
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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.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
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.
Study the data of distribution of temperature and rain for Station X and answer the questions that follow :
(i) Is Station X in the coastal area or in the interior of the country?
(ii) Calculate the total annual rainfall for Station X.
(iii) Name the wind that brings most of the rainfall to Station X.
‘Rainfall decreases as one travels up the Ganges Valley.’ Why?
Mention why does sub-continent have Tropical Monsoon climate.
Chennai has a lower annual range of temperature than Lucknow.
When the Malabar coast is receiving heavy rainfall in July, the Tamil Nadu coast is comparatively dry.
Study the climatic data given below and answer the questions that follow:
| Month | Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | Apr. | May | Jun. | Jul. | Aug. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. |
| °C | 25.0 | 25.5 | 26.3 | 27.1 | 30.0 | 36.2 | 36.0 | 35.9 | 30.3 | 28.4 | 27.0 | 24.6 |
| cm | 24.5 | 23.1 | 15.0 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 11.0 | 9.3 | 7.2 | 4.0 | 9.4 | 14.5 | 20.4 |
(i) Calculate the annual temperature range.
(ii) What is the total annual rainfall?
(iii) Presuming that the station is located in India, give a reason for its location being on the east coast or the west coast of India.
Name the winds which provide relief rainfall to the Tamil Nadu coast?
Name two driest stations.
Now find out
Why is July rainier in Mumbai than in Thiruvananthapuram?
