Which of the following group of months is the coldest in North India?

Correct — A. The cold weather season in northern India sets in around mid-November and lasts into February, and December and January are its coldest months. That is the statement school geography makes, and the one the key follows.

The reason sits in the earth's tilt: around the December solstice the northern hemisphere leans furthest from the sun, so insolation over north India is at its weakest — option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  September and October — September and October are retreating-monsoon months. Days over north India are still hot and humid then, an oppressive spell known as October heat rather than a cold one.
• (c)
  February and March — February and March are warming months. Temperatures climb from mid-February as the sun moves north, so this pair marks the end of winter, not its floor.
• (d)
  October and November — October and November cover the monsoon's withdrawal. Nights cool sharply by late November, but the lowest readings still come in the two months that follow.

Indian geography splits the year into four seasons: the cold weather season from about mid-November to February, the hot weather season from March to May, the advancing monsoon from June to September, and the retreating monsoon in October and November.

Two things sharpen north India's winter. It lies furthest from the moderating sea, so the continental effect exaggerates the swing, and it receives the least insolation while the sun is over the southern hemisphere.

Winter rain there comes not from the monsoon but from western disturbances travelling in from the Mediterranean region.

Key facts

• The cold weather season in northern India runs from about mid-November to February, and December and January are its coldest months.
• Winter rainfall in north-west India comes from western disturbances originating over the Mediterranean region.
• That winter rain is valuable for the rabi crop, especially wheat.
• October and November are the retreating monsoon months, when land is still hot and humid — the spell called October heat.

Common traps

• Reading coldest as the month the cold first arrives, which is November rather than December.
• Applying the north Indian calendar to the peninsula, where the sea keeps winter mild.
• Crediting north India's winter rain to the monsoon instead of to western disturbances.

No directly related past PYQ was found.