What is a monsoon climate and what are its characteristics?

Monsoon Monsoon As the seasons evolve, there is a temperature gap between the land and the sea, resulting in a large-scale wind system called the monsoon.

In winter, the Asian continent cools down rapidly, resulting in a very cold central part of it. When the cold air gathers and the air pressure rises, a huge continental anticyclone forms in Siberia. The Qinghai-Tibet High principle acts as an effective natural barrier to prevent the cold air in this anticyclone from extending southward.

Sometimes, under the influence of high-altitude turbulent airflows, cold air will move south across China. These winter monsoon cold spells finally bring bursts of cold air to the South China coast. At different times of winter, depending on the weather system, cold spells can reach Hong Kong from the north, northeast or east.

In the summer, when the Asian continent is strongly exposed to the sun, the ground temperature rises, and the air on it expands and rises, forming a long-lasting zone of low pressure in central Asia. When warm and moist air blows from the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea towards this area of low pressure, southern and southeastern Asia is affected by the summer monsoon.

Compared with tropical cyclones, monsoons tend to be more persistent and tend to last for many days. Under the influence of the strong winter monsoon cold wave, northeast winds with gale force are common in the coastal waters of South China. However, Hong Kong is not necessarily affected by these gales, especially in urban areas with many buildings or in areas that are obscured by the terrain.

During the winter monsoon when the South China coast is affected, tropical cyclones occasionally cross the South China Sea and pass south of Hong Kong. At this time, the huge pressure gap between the continental anticyclone and the tropical cyclone will lead to stronger winds in Hong Kong.

Monsoon climate

The phenomenon that the prevailing winds in a wide area change with the seasons due to the difference in the thermal properties of land and sea or the movement of the wind belt with the seasons is called the monsoon.

Characteristics of a temperate continental monsoon climate:

1. High temperature and rain in summer: In summer, the sun altitude angle increases, the days are long, the temperature is high, and the southeast monsoon blowing from the tropical ocean brings abundant precipitation.

2. Cold and dry winter: the average temperature of the coldest month is below 0, and the winter is cold, which is caused by the high latitude, close to the source of the winter wind, the low and flat terrain, the high terrain in the west and the low in the east, which weakens the winter monsoon.

3. The monsoon is significant.

4. Summer and autumn are often affected by tropical cyclones.

Summers are wet and rainy, while winters are dry and rainy. The high temperature of the monsoon climate is basically the same as that of the rainy period, and the rain and heat are at the same time. The monsoon climate is the main feature of the climate of our country.

The monsoon climate is a mixture of continental and oceanic climates. In summer, under the influence of warm and humid air currents from the ocean, the climate is hot, humid and rainy, and the climate is oceanic. In winter, it is affected by the dry and cold air flow from the mainland, and the climate is cold, dry and rainy, and the climate is continental.

Formation of the monsoon climate:

As for the cause of the monsoon, it is believed that it is caused by the difference in heat between land and sea and the seasonal variation of this difference. It is believed to be caused by seasonal shifts in the planetary wind belt. Some climatologists in China believe that the monsoon phenomenon is a comprehensive phenomenon under the combined influence of three factors: the thermal effect of land and sea distribution, the seasonal variation of atmospheric circulation, and the specific topography.

Classification of monsoon climates:

1.East Asian monsoon region: The main members of the East Asian monsoon system are the low-level monsoon trough, namely the intertropical convergence zone, the front, the low-level southwesterly wind and southeasterly jet stream (including the low-level cross-equatorial airflow and the southwest monsoon), the Australian cold high, the middle layer is the western Pacific subtropical high, and the high-level South Asian high-Qinghai-Tibet high is the high.

The main reason for the formation of the East Asian monsoon system is the seasonal variation of the wind system caused by the difference in land and sea heat and the seasonal movement of the planetary wind belt.

2.South Asian monsoon region: The South Asian Indian monsoon is the strongest monsoon system in the world, the subtropical high in the southern Indian Ocean in the southern hemisphere moves northward near the equator with seasonal changes, and its low-level airflow flows out in an anticlockwise direction, and crosses the equator after converging with the southeast trade winds of the southern Indian Ocean, forming a cross-equatorial airflow, which is affected by the topography of East Africa to form the Somali jet stream.

The Somali jet stream forms a southwesterly airstream under the action of the Coriolis force, and since the southwest monsoon comes from the Somali jet stream, the summer monsoon in South Asia is quite strong. The climatic characteristics of the monsoon region are dry and rainless in winter, dominated by northeast wind, and wet and rainy in summer, dominated by southwest airflow, and its overall characteristics are weak in winter monsoon and strong in summer.

3.Other monsoon areas: Australia also belongs to the monsoon region and is a whole with the Asian monsoon, and its main climate characteristics are weak winter monsoon and strong summer monsoon.

The east coast of Africa belongs to the Indian monsoon, with the northeast monsoon in October and May, and the southwest monsoon in July and August, and the West African region also shows the alternation of the southwest monsoon and the northeast monsoon, and the southwest monsoon in four months of summer is caused by the cross-equatorial stream, which is humid and rainy, and the rest of the time is the northeast monsoon, and the climate is dry. The monsoon phenomenon in North America is relatively weak.

The monsoon climate is mainly characterized by significant precipitation. The monsoon climate is divided into seasons, some of which are drier and some of which are humid.

Monsoon climates tend to be influenced by monsoons, for example, drought and lack of rain in one area may be due to strong local warm air, while flooding in some areas is due to weak warm air and rain is trapped elsewhere.

The monsoon climate is a mixture of continental and oceanic climates. It is more affected, with an oceanic climate in summer and a continental climate in winter. Its precipitation has a very obvious characteristic, which is generally divided by region.