Monsoon season

Monsoon refers both to a powerful periodic wind that blows over the Indian Ocean and to the annual season in which that wind blows, usually accompanied by heavy rainfall in India and southern Asia. The monsoon cycle is extremely important for agriculture in those regions, in order to maintain a large and densely populated a society. Without this season famine, reduced harvest, and decreased food supply. The annual monsoon season generally begins along the southwest coast of India in the beginning of June, while the northeast monsoon in Tamil Nadu usually begins in October. The word "monsoon" is thought to derive from the Arabic word mausim, meaning "season." Climatologists have determined that the monsoons of India are part of a larger weather system that reaches from Africa to Australia.