In Frames | Shades of summer

Even the best forecasters do not always get predictions right because of the the complex character of weather and the myriad factors that play a role in it. Here is a look into the changes in weather across India

Despite the planet-wide character of global warming, its local forms can be so different, even unpredictable, because they are shaped by local geographies. This year, rapid warming over West Asia exerted a northward pressure gradient over the Arabian Sea that, in turn, deflected winds in the area in that direction. So they no longer flowed directly east, towards Mumbai, but took a detour and entered India over the northwest, bearing a gift of cooler air in March.

This deceptively simple change also created an unusual anticyclone, a clockwise circulation where warm waters converge, over the Arabian Sea in the same month. Around the same time, India’s upper half was struck by several western disturbances —storm­ causing winds from the Mediterranean —producing rain.

Taken together, many parts of India’s north and northwest experienced pleasant but then unexpectedly wet weather, to be followed by the familiar yet still brutal heat. Now, we await the monsoon.