Interannual variation of northeast monsoon rainfall over southern peninsular India

Abstract

Area average rainfall of southern peninsular India is calculated for northeast monsoon season from daily gridded data. Years of strong and weak northeast monsoon were identified. Sea level pressure (SLP), sea surface temperature (SST), and 850 h Pa zonal wind are analyzed for years of strong and weak northeast monsoon rainfall. Difference between years of strong and weak rainfall of northeast monsoon high pressure anomaly over west pacific region near Philippines, low pressure over west Indian Ocean including Arabian sea, high SST anomaly over equatorial Pacific and Bay of Bengal. Among these the Sea level Pressure difference (SPD) between west pacific and west Indian ocean plays the key role in determining the strength of northeast monsoon rainfall over southern peninsular India.