GENERAL

CLIMATE AND SEASONS

[The section on ' Climate ' is contributed by the Meteorological Department of the Government of India, Poona.]

The climate of this district is characterised by a hot summer, well-distributed rainfall during the south-west monsoon season and generally dry weather during the rest of the year. The cold season is from December to February. This is followed by the hot season from March to May. The southwest monsoon season is from June to September while October and November constitute the post-monsoon season.

Rainfall.—Records of rainfall in the district are available for 13 rain guage stations for periods ranging from 32 to 101 years. The details of the rainfall at these stations and for the district as a whole are given in tables 2 and 3. The average annual rainfall in the district is 796.6 mm (31.37"). The rainfall in the district generally decreases from the south to the north except that the north-western part of the district, the Buldhana-Dhamangaon area gets comparatively more rainfall than the rest of the district. The rainfall in the district during the main rainy season, June to September constitutes about 85 per cent of the annual rainfall. July is the rainiest month. The variation in the rainfall from year to year is large. During the fifty year period from 1901 to 1950, the highest annual rainfall which amounted to 150 per cent of the normal occurred in 1949, while the lowest which was only 52 per cent of the normal was recorded in 1920. In the same 50 year period, the annual rainfall was less than 80 per cent of the normal in 9 years, two of them being consecutive. Considering the rainfall at the individual stations such low rainfall in two consecutive years occurred more than once at four out of the 13 stations. Even 3 and 4 consecutive years of such low rainfall have occurred once or twice at about half the number of the stations in the district. It will be seen from table 2 that the annual rainfall in the district was between 600 and 900 mm (23.62" and 35.43") in 28 years out of 50.

On an average there are 47 rainy days (i.e., days with rainfall of 2.5 mm or 10 cents or more) in a year in the district. This number varies from 43 near the northern border to 51 in the Buldhana-Dhamangaon region.

The heaviest rainfall in 24 hours recorded at any station in the district was 337.6 mm (13.29") at Buldhana on September 9, 1930.

TABLE No. 2

NORMALS AND EXTREMES OF RAINFALL IN BULDHANA DISTRICT

TABLE No. 2—contd.

NORMALS AND EXTREMES OF RAINFALL IN BULDHANA DISTRICT

(a) Normal rainfall in mm. (b) Average number of rainy days (days with rain of 2.5 mm. or more).

*Based on all available data up to 1958.

**Years given in brackets.

TABLE No. 3

FREQUENCY OF ANNUAL RAINFALL IN THE DISTRICT (DATA 1901—1950)

Temperature.—There is a meteorological observatory in the district at Buldhana. The records of this observatory are representative of the meteorological conditions prevailing in the southern half of the district which is at a higher elevation than the northern half. Compared to the northern half which has a climate similar to that of neighbouring Akola district, the southern half has a milder summer. From November, temperatures decrease rapidly till December which is generally the coldest month with mean daily maximum temperature at 27.6° C (81.7° F) and the mean daily minimum at 15.1° C (592° F) in the southern half of the district. In the northern portions, the mean daily maximum temperature on individual days may go down to about 3 degrees above the freezing point of water. Temperatures rise rapidly after February till May which is the hottest month of the year. The mean daily maximum temperature in May in southern half of the district is 38.3° C (100.9° F) and the mean daily minimum 26.2° C (79.2° F). In the northern half the mean daily maximum temperature is 42.3° C (108.1° F) and the mean daily minimum is 27.4° C (81.3° F). The heat in the summer is severe during the day particularly in the northern parts of the district. The day temperature may some times reach 47° C (116.6° F) in the northern parts of the district while in the southern half it may go up to 42° C (107.6° F). The oppressive heat is relieved by thundershowers which occur on some days in the afternoons. With the onset of the monsoon by about the second week of June there is appreciable drop in the temperatures and the weather becomes pleasant. By about the beginning of October when the south-west monsoon withdraws from the district, day temperatures begin to increase slightly and a secondary maximum in day temperature is reached during October. Thereafter, both day and night temperatures fall rapidly.

The highest maximum temperature recorded at Buldhana was 42.2° C (108.0° F) on April 25, 1958 and 23rd May 1954. The lowest minimum was 4.4° C (39.9° F) on 11th February 1950.

Humidity.—Except during the south-west monsoon season when the relative humidities are high, the air is generally dry over the district. The relative humidities are between 25 and 30 per cent in the afternoons in the summer season which is the driest part of the year.

Cloudiness.—The skies are heavily clouded to overcast during the south-west monsoon season. In the rest of the year clear or lightly clouded skies prevail.

Winds.— Winds are generally light with some increase in wind speed in the latter part of the summer and the monsoon season. In the post-monsoon months and the earlier half of the cold season the winds blow mostly from east or north-east. By February northwesterly and westerly winds start blowing. With the progress of the season winds from these directions become predominant. During the south-west monsoon season winds are mainly from directions between south-west and north-west.

Special Weather Phenomena.— In association with the monsoon depressions which originate in the Bay of Bengal and move westwards across the central parts of the country, the district experiences gusty winds and widespread heavy rain. Less frequently, storms and depressions from the Bay of Bengal during the post-monsoon months also affect the weather over the district. Thunderstorms occur in all the months of the year, their incidence being the least during the cold season and highest during the early monsoon season and September.

Tables 4, 5 and 6 give the temperature and humidity, mean wind speed, and special weather phenomena, respectively, for Buldhana.

TABLE No. 4

NORMALS OF TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN THE DISTRICT.

*Hours I. S. T.

TABLE No. 5

MEAN WIND SPEED IN KILOMETRES PER HOUR IN BULDHANA DISTRICT

TABLE No. 6

SPECIAL WEATHER PHENOMENA IN BULDHANA DISTRICT.

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