Climate of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh being a large and wide spread state there is a whole range of temperatures experienced over the entire land. In some parts it has a semi-arid climate and in others it has humid and a highly subtropical type of climate. Largely comprising the vast Gangetic plain, the wide variety of temperatures can be seen to fluctuate from 0⁰ C to 50⁰ C.

Temperature of Uttar Pradesh

The temperature variations are very great in Uttar Pradesh. This is evidenced in the successive Heat Waves and Cold Waves experienced in certain parts of the State. The heat wave has been observed to strike different districts virtually every year. In 2007, it was Banda district when a high of 45.5⁰C temperature had sixty two people succumbing to the heat. In 2009, it was Bundelkhand district that experienced the highest temperature of 49⁰C and claimed thirty people who fell to severe heatstroke. In 2010, it was Jhansi district that recorded the highest temperatures of 46.7⁰C in the state. Thus, the heat wave is a recurrent phenomenon of Uttar Pradesh.

Cold waves are another annual feature which has become quite a regular feature of the State. Temperatures struck a low 2.8⁰C in the end of 2007 and the start of the year 2008. In late 2009 as well the temperatures were at 2.9⁰C and this condition carried on to the winter months of 2010 and 2011. Meerut district seems to be regularly targeted by the cold waves while in 2011 it was Churk, a town in Mirzapur that claimed the maximum lives for the cold waves taking the temperature to the lowest of 1.4⁰C.

Rainfall in Uttar Pradesh

To a large extent the state experiences either floods or drought due to highly erratic and totally unpredictable rainfall. Basically, the climate of a place signifies the average weather conditions experienced by a place. According to the Koppen system of climate assessment the climate experienced by Uttar Pradesh is the tropical monsoon type or even more precisely as the humid sub-tropical climate having a dry, semi-dry winter. Based on its climate the seasons experienced in Uttar Pradesh are the summer season that lasts for the months of March, April and May followed by the onset of the South-West Monsoon which continues through the months of June end, through July, August and September and in some cases it even continues up to October with the onset of the winter season which in turn goes on from November, December onto even January. Very few showers are existent in winter.

The rainfall in Uttar Pradesh is most erratic giving it a semi-arid to arid outlook almost all over barring a few wet patches. Precipitation is marked by rainfall hailstones, frost and dew.

The types of rainfall experienced are orographic, cyclonic and conventional. Given the differentials of excessive and scanty rain it is interesting to note that Uttar Pradesh is commonly prone to floods and droughts.

The floods are caused mostly because of the overflowing of the main rivers of this Gangetic plain which are Ganga, Yamuna, Ramganga, Gomti, Sharda, Ghaghra, Rapti and the Gandak.

Droughts of Uttar Pradesh have taken a heavy toll in terms of human capital as well as economy in 2002 and again in 2004. The financial estimate of losses was estimated at USD 1.2 billion for each. A significant feature of the droughts of Uttar Pradesh is that they follow a repetitive cycle every six to eight years in the eastern Uttar Pradesh areas and a recurrent ten year cycle in the western Uttar Pradesh regions.

Another significant feature of the climate of Uttar Pradesh is the presence of the hot dry winds called loo. These winds are dust laden and can easily scald human skin. They can even dry up crops in summer. Also thick fog is a persistent feature of the peak winter season of Uttar Pradesh. The fog is so thick that it affords zero visibility.