Question

Which part of India is the hottest?
A.East
B.South
C.North
D.West

Answer 1

Hint: The most determining factor for the climate in any region including India is the location of latitudes. Being closer to the equator and with the tropic of cancer passing through the middle of India, it generally has a tropical climate. The country is located between 8°4'N and 37°6’N latitudes. The southern landmass also bulges into a peninsula giving the country a long coastline.

Complete answer: Option A: is incorrect. The eastern part of India receives rainfall from both the northeast monsoon and the southwest monsoon. The northeast trade winds prevail during the cold months and blow from high pressure over the land towards the low-pressure centre in the Bay of Bengal. They carry moisture and bring rainfall to the Coromandel coast in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The southwest monsoon winds, on the other hand, is caused due to low pressure over the subcontinent and high pressure in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal developed over the warm months. The winds carry moisture and bring rainfall to almost the entire subcontinent but heavily in the Western Ghats and the north-east states.
Option B: is incorrect. Because India is a peninsula with a long coastline of 7516.6 km, most southern states that are located in the coastal region experience maritime climate which has fewer extremes of temperature.
Option C: is incorrect. Due to the presence of the Himalayas, the largest mountain range in the world running from the river Indus in the north-west to the river Brahmaputra in the east and separating Asia from the plains of the Indian subcontinent, the states in the north experience colder temperatures due to the altitude.
Option D: is correct. Western India experiences hotter temperature mainly due to the presence of the Thar Desert which is a warm desert in Rajasthan and Gujarat extending into Pakistan as well. During summer, the temperatures in some places Rajasthan go up to almost 50 degree Celsius. Sand and dust storms are very common in the region and annual precipitation is only about 100-500 mm.

Hence, The correct answer is Option D.

Note: India has four seasons— winter between the months of December to February, Summer that lasts from March to May, Monsoon lasts from June to September and autumn during October and November.