Uttar Pradesh: Climate | Course for UPPSC Preparation - UPPSC (UP) PDF Download

The climate of Uttar Pradesh is tropical monsoon type where winter season is very cold and summer season is very hot. The state of Uttar Pradesh has very fertile land which is mostly covered by alluvial soil. Apart from this, the state has a variety of soil groups which are different from each other, e.g. Bangar, Khadar, red soil, black soil, parwa, monta soil, etc. 

Climate of Uttar Pradesh 

• This region includes Bijnor, Northern Moradabad, Bareilly, Rampur, Pilibhit, Deoria, Lakhimpur, Bahraich, Gonda, Basti, Gorakhpur, Siddarthnagar, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Padrona, etc. 
• This area is a marshy land as it is situated at the foot hills of Himalayas. 
• The average annual rainfall in Terai Region is 120-150 cm and average temperature is 18° to 30°C in January and July, respectively.

Eastern Uttar Pradesh

• This region includes Northern Shahjahanpur, Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Azamgarh, Ballia, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Bhadoi, Chandoli, Southern Allahabad, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot and Mirzapur districts. 
• The average annual rainfall in this region is 100-120 cm. The amount of rainfall decreases from East to West. In this area, there is no effect of winter cyclone. 

(ii) Moderate Humid and Tropical Region 

• This region covers central plain, western plain, and the hill and plateau region of Bundelkhand. Generally, the average annual rainfall varies from 50-100 cm in these regions. 

This region is divided into three sub-groups due to variation in rainfall which are:
Central Plains 

• This region includes Farrukabad Hardoi, Kanpur, Unnao, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Raebareli, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh and Northern Allahabad. 
• The average annual rainfall in Central Plains is 80-100 cm. The variation of rainfall can be seen in this region as Kanpur, Etawah and Farrukabad receive average annual rainfall of 85 cm, 81 cm and 79 cm, respectively. 
• During summer season dust storm, and westerly winds known as loo flows in this region. Thus, summer season remains very hot with temperature 44°C. 
• During winter season sometime frosting occurs and temperature varies from 15°-16°C. 

Western Plains 

• This region includes Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budha Nagar, Mahamaya Nagar, South-Western part of Moradabad, Bulandshahr, Budaun, Aligarh, Etah, Mathura, Mainpuri and Agra districts. 
• The average annual rainfall in Western Plains varies from 65 cm to 80 cm which can be seen in Agra which receives 65 cm rainfall and Meerut which receives 80 cm rainfall. The rainfall decreases from East to West. It also receives scanty rainfall by winter cyclones. The Southern part of this area remains much hotter as compared to Northern part during summer season.
• During winter season the average temperature remains from 12°C to 14°C. 

Hilly and Plateau Region of Bundelkhand 

• This region includes Jalaun, Southern Etawah, Banda, Hamirpur, Lalitpur and Jhansi districts. 
• This area receives the average annual rainfall from 80 cm to 100 cm. Rainfall decreases from East to West. The variation of rainfall can be seen in the districts as Banda receives 104 cm, Jhansi receives 90 cm and Jalaun receives 81 cm of average annual rainfall. 
• During summer season temperature varies from 40°C to 45°C. 
• During winter season temperature varies from 18°C to 19°C.

Seasons in Uttar Pradesh 

• The summer season starts from March and remains till mid of the June. In March, temperature starts to increase and becomes extreme in the month of June. 
• The maximum temperature is experienced in the month of June. The average maximum temperature of the state in this season is 36°C to 39°C and average minimum temperature is 21°C to 23°C.
• Due to nearness to the Tropic of Cancer, areas of Bundelkhand region experience highest temperature during summer season such as Allahabad, Kanpur, Fatehpur, Agra, Banda, Chitrakoot, Orai, Mahoba, Jhansi, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Lalitpur, etc. 
• The hottest places in Uttar Pradesh are Agra and Jhansi and the place which experience minimum temperature during this season is Bareilly. 
• A low pressure belt of North-Western part of the country is established near Uttar Pradesh, during summer season. The North-Western part of the state also experiences very hot temperature conditions. 
• Loo, a local wind is a common phenomenon in summer season which blows in the state between 10 am to 5 pm, due to pressure gradient. 
• Generally there is no rain in summer season, but due to dry and moist air, sometimes a little amount of rain occurs in April, May and June in plain regions. 
• The average rainfall varies from 10 cm to 25 cm during this season and the maximum rainfall is experienced in hilly regions. Sometimes hailstorms also take place in this season. 

Rainy/Monsoon Season 

•  This season starts by the end of June to October with the advent of South-West monsoon winds. The Bay of Bengal branch of these winds enters in the Eastern and South-Eastern part of the state, through Bihar plains. These winds enter in the name of ‘Purba’ and gives the first rain by the end of June (third or fourth week of June). 
• South-West monsoon winds proceed towards Western part but some part of these winds proceeds towards North. These winds strikes the Himalayan mountains and again return back in Uttar Pradesh and provides heavy rain to the Terai region. 
• The maximum rainfall is experienced in the months of July and August in this season. 
• The Western plains and plateau regions also receive some amount of rainfall. 
• Gorakhpur receives highest rainfall (average 184.7 cm) and Mathura receives the lowest rainfall (average 55.4 cm). Gorakhpur has around 56 days of rainy period while the Western Uttar Pradesh has around 32 days of rainy period.
• The state receives average rainfall of 170 cm while the Eastern, Central, Southern and Western parts receive 112 cm, 94 cm, 91 cm and 84 cm average rainfall. 
• The amount of rainfall decreases from East to West due to increase in distance from the sea. Thus, Western part of the state remains hot during this season. 
• The Arabian sea branch also provides some amount of rainfall which enters the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand through Gujarat (Kutch), and Punjab. 
• The amount of rainfall decreases in September and interval between rainy days also increases, thus, in September temperature increases a little.
• During this season, the state experiences 32°C to 34°C average maximum temperature and 25°C as average minimum temperature with 7°C to 8°C range of temperature. 
• The state receives 80-83% amount of rainfall during this season and the rest is received in winter and summer seasons. 
• The state receives rainfall by the orographic, cyclonic and convectional rainfall. 
• During October month retreating of monsoon is experienced along with pleasant weather with clear sky. 

Winter Season

• The winter season starts from November and lasts till February. January is the coldest month in the state. The temperature decreases from November to January.
• The temperature variation can be seen in different regions of the state. For example, in North-Western plain areas, the maximum temperature remains 22.7°C and minimum temperature remains 11.7°C. Whereas in Southern hilly and plateau region of the state, the maximum temperature remains 28.3°C and minimum temperature remains 13.3°C. 
• The temperature decreases from South to North. 
• During this season, the Western Gangetic plains record the lowest temperature. 
• The season is characterised by clear sky, low temperature and pleasant weather. During this season, the entire North-Western part of the country remains under the high pressure belt. 
• During this season generally rainfall does not occur as wind blows from land to sea which are dry in nature. But due to Western disturbances or Mediterranean cyclones in the months of January and February, the state experiences a sudden change in the climate and the North-Western part of the state experiences about 10 cm winter rainfall. This rain is very beneficial for rabi crops. Sometimes hailstorm also occur during this season. 
• The Western part receives 10 to 12.5 cm rainfall. This rainfall decreases Southward, e.g., Jalaun, Banda, Hamirpur, Jhansi and Lalitpur receive 5 cm to 7.5 cm of rainfall (lowest) while the plain regions receive 7.5 cm to 10 cm of rainfall. The Terai region experiences fog condition.