Hot local wind that flows over north India in summer is known as:

Correct — B. The Loo is the hot, dry wind that blows across the northern plains from the west and north-west in May and June, driven by intense heating over north-western India and Pakistan.

It runs through the afternoon, and prolonged exposure to it causes heatstroke. That is why local advisories in the plains tell people to stay indoors while it is blowing.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Purga — Purga is a cold blizzard wind of the Siberian tundra. Nothing about it is Indian, and nothing about it is a summer wind.
• (c)
  Chinook — Chinook is the warm, dry wind that descends the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is nicknamed the snow eater for how fast it clears snow.
• (d)
  Mango showers — Mango showers are pre-monsoon rain, not a wind. They fall over Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and help the mango crop ripen.

A local wind is named for the small region it blows over and the weather it brings there. The Loo is India's best known one.

In late May the north-west of the subcontinent heats fiercely and a low-pressure trough forms over it. Air drawn in across that hot, dry surface arrives in the plains as the Loo.

It ends when the monsoon breaks. The same season also produces Kalbaisakhi, the violent evening thunderstorms of Bengal and Assam, which are rain-bringing rather than desiccating.

Key facts

• The Loo blows over the north and north-western plains of India in May and June.
• It is a hot dry wind and prolonged exposure to it causes heatstroke.
• Mango showers are pre-monsoon rains over Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, not a wind.
• Chinook is a warm dry wind on the leeward slopes of the Rocky Mountains in North America.

Common traps

• Choosing Mango showers because the name sounds Indian, when the stem asks for a wind.
• Mixing the Loo up with the Chinook, which is also warm but is North American and blows down a mountain slope.

No directly related past PYQ was found.