the.com/monsoon season
the sky's annual mood swing, from drought to deluge on a schedule you can almost trust.
means a seasonal reversal of prevailing winds that brings a concentrated, months-long stretch of heavy rainfall to a region after a dry spell.
from from arabic mawsim, meaning season, borrowed by portuguese sailors trading in the indian ocean who needed a word for winds that flip direction like clockwork twice a year.
wind reversalsummer and winter monsoons blow in opposite directions entirely
single eventone monsoon can deliver 80 percent of a region's annual rainfall
economic weightindia's gdp still sways with monsoon strength each year
driven by heatland heats faster than ocean, dragging moist air inland
for instance
indian monsoon — june to september, feeds agriculture for over a billion people
arizona monsoon — july to september, flash floods hit sonoran desert cities
west african monsoon — brings sahel its only reliable rain, often failing since the 1970s
east asian monsoon — shapes rice planting cycles across china, korea, japan