The Contrasting Features of Winter Circulation During Surplus and Deficient Precipitation Over Western Himalayas

Contrasting features associated with surplus and deficient precipitation years are studied to examine atmospheric circulation characteristics during the winter season viz., December, January February and March (DJFM) to assess the wintertime synoptic weather system affecting the western Himalayas. Large-scale balances of kinetic energy, vorticity, angular momentum, heat and moisture fields are analyzed. Winter circulations are studied over the domain 15 S–45 S and 30 E–120 E. This domain is considered particularly to illustrate the distribution of precipitation due to wintertime eastward moving synoptic weather systems called western disturbances. Surplus and deficient years of seasonal (DJFM) precipitation are identified using±20% departure from mean from uninitialized daily reanalysis data of fourty (1958–1997) years of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), USA. The years 1965–1969, 1973 and 1991 are found to be surplus years and years 1962, 1963, 1971, 1977 and 1985 are found to be deficient years. Composites of these two categories are made. Comparative study is made using Students t-test of significance. Examining the aspects associated with energetics during the two extreme categories of winter seasonal precipitation years, higher heat flux convergence in excess years in the area of study of precipitation takes place. Diabatic heating shows cooling. Higher flux of convergence of kinetic energy and higher dissipation of kinetic energy are observed during surplus years.