Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
Option (b) is correct — intense summer heating creates a thermal low over northwest India as the ITCZ shifts north, drawing moisture-laden winds from the high-pressure cell over the southern Indian Ocean, which is the engine of the southwest monsoon. Option (a) is wrong — the subtropical jet lies south of the Himalayas in winter and shifts north in summer; "northward shift in winter" is self-contradictory. Option (c) is wrong — the bulk of India's rainfall comes from the advancing southwest monsoon (June–September); the retreating monsoon mainly waters the Tamil Nadu coast in October–December. Option (d) reverses the direction — SW monsoon winds blow from sea to land.
- Mango showers — Kerala and Karnataka
- Loo — Northern plains of India
- Kalbaisakhi — Tamil Nadu
- Blossom showers — Karnataka
Pairs 1, 2, and 4 are correctly matched — Mango showers are pre-monsoon showers over Kerala and Karnataka that aid early mango ripening; the Loo is a hot, dry, dust-laden westerly sweeping the northern plains during May–June (prolonged exposure can be fatal); and Blossom showers are pre-monsoon showers in Karnataka that help coffee flowering. Pair 3 is the deliberate trap — Kalbaisakhi (Nor'westers) are the dreaded evening thunderstorms of West Bengal and Assam (called Bardoli Chheerha in Assam), not Tamil Nadu.
- Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala)
- Mumbai
- Delhi
- Western Rajasthan
The southwest monsoon bursts over the Kerala coast around 1 June (earliest onset on the Indian mainland), reaches Mumbai by about 10 June as the Arabian Sea branch climbs northward along the Western Ghats, arrives in Delhi by about 29 June via the Bay of Bengal branch ascending the Ganga plains, and covers Western Rajasthan last around mid-July — the entire country is typically under the monsoon by 15 July. Options (b) and (d) trap those who assume distance from the sea alone determines onset order.
- The phenomenon of El Niño is generally associated with weak monsoon rainfall and drought-like conditions in India.
- A positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) tends to suppress the Indian southwest monsoon.
Statement 1 is correct — El Niño (warming of the central/eastern equatorial Pacific) is generally linked to a weaker southwest monsoon and a higher probability of deficient rainfall in India. Statement 2 is incorrect and is a frequently exploited polarity trap — a positive IOD (warmer western Indian Ocean near the Arabian Sea) generally strengthens the Indian monsoon and can even offset an El Niño year; it is the negative IOD that suppresses monsoon rainfall.
- The Tibetan Plateau acts as a high-level heat source in summer, strengthening the monsoon circulation.
- The Mascarene High, a high-pressure cell in the southern Indian Ocean, is a source region for the southwest monsoon winds.
- The "break" in the monsoon refers to a spell of weak or no rainfall during the monsoon season.
- The southwest monsoon withdraws from the entire country by the end of August.
Statements 1, 2, and 3 are correct — the elevated Tibetan Plateau heats up in summer and acts as a high-level heat source, helping intensify the monsoon (Tibetan heating mechanism); the Mascarene High (~30°S) is the source of the cross-equatorial southwest monsoon winds; and "breaks" are spells of sharply reduced or absent rainfall linked to the shifting position of the monsoon trough. Statement 4 is the deliberate trap — monsoon withdrawal begins from northwest India around early September and is completed only by about mid-October, not the end of August.
