Winds that blow from the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea bring monsoons to countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. One of the main facts about these winds is that they are prevailing winds that last for several months bringing rain to these regions heralding the monsoon season. Even though this part of the world is one in which the monsoon season is legendary, monsoonic winds occur all over the world when they are accompanied by large amounts of precipitation. North America receives more of these winds than the Far East, but they do not have as much loss of life attributed to them mainly because of the density of population in Asian countries.
Monsoonic winds are violent winds that blow from colder to warmer areas. The winds blow onshore during the summer in Southeast Asia carrying with them the moisture from the waters over which they pass. This brings heavy rains during the summer season, quite often triggering floods and mudslides that have wiped out entire villages. In spite of this fact, they are welcomed by farmers who need the rain to irrigate their fields.
Not all monsoonic winds carry moisture. This is true of the dry monsoons that occur in the Asia during the winter months because of the high pressure area that develops over Southern Siberia. The wet monsoonic winds are the result of a low pressure over the same region. The air cools as it rises over the mountains and so it must release the moisture it has built up, which is what causes the torrents of rain that we associate with monsoons.
The winds are not as high during the summer as they are in winter. The temperature of the water in the Arabian Sea is about 25C, but there are other factors that come into play to determine the amount of moisture the winds carry. The large amounts of sunlight affect the productivity of the upper levels of the ocean making the water very rich in nutrients. This helps to remove the carbon dioxide from the air of the monsoonic winds so that they drop the moisture more readily.
During the day when the sun is shining the land heats up a lot quicker than the temperature of the water. So even though this part of the world is very warm, there is still a difference in the temperature of the sea and that of the land. Thus the winds are blowing continuously from a colder to a warmer area.
The movements of monsoonic winds are not the same all over the world. In places where there are high mountains, such as in the Himalayas, some countries are protected from the winters in different seasons of the year. This is true of the monsoons in India during the winter months, while these same winds bring rain to China and Japan. In some cases, the monsoons become exceptionally violent turning into typhoons that can devastate an area.
