India · climate · 1901–2024
India's monsoon mood ring
Each ridge is one year of the southwest monsoon — daily rainfall across India, June through September. Taller ridges are wetter years; the shape of each ridge says whether the rain came in a few hard bursts or spread across the season. A century of rainfall, stacked.
Two things the record shows
- Reading the data…
Each row is one year of monsoon rain, oldest on top. Tall narrow spikes mean the rain came in a few hard bursts; long broad waves mean it was spread across the season. Hover any year to bring it forward.
The monsoon stays longer now.
Two lines: when the monsoon arrives (gold) and when it withdraws (dark). Thin lines are individual years; thick lines are 11-year averages. The gap between them is the season's length.
Source: IMD 0.25° daily gridded rainfall (Pai et al., 2014), Climate Monitoring and Prediction Group, IMD Pune. Daily rainfall is averaged across the India mainland (8–36° N, 68.5–97.5° E). The shifts in onset, withdrawal, and peak day are straight-line trends across 1901–2024; the thick lines on the second chart are 11-year rolling averages.