26 questions on this topic, recalled by candidates after DGCA sittings between 2021 and 2026. Together they were asked 58 times; the most repeated come first. Pick a year to see only what was asked that year.
C. October-November
October-November, also called the retreating monsoon or NE monsoon season - Tamil Nadu's main rainy season.
C. Himalayan foothills
With the trough lying along the foothills, the rain is concentrated there (and floods the rivers coming out of the hills) while the plains stay dry.
A. Gangetic plains
In its normal position the trough runs from Ganganagar through Allahabad and Kolkata to the head of the Bay, and rain is widespread across the country.
C. Pre-monsoon
The correct answer is: Pre-monsoon.
B. June-September
IMD seasons: winter January-February, pre-monsoon (hot weather) March-May, SW monsoon June-September, post-monsoon October-November.
C. Northern most part of country
In summer, western disturbances pass across the northernmost part of India and trigger thunderstorms and dust storms over Punjab and Rajasthan.
Our independent check could not confirm this answer from the official sources we hold; treat it with care and confirm with your instructor.
B. Foothills of the Himalayas
Normally the trough runs along the Gangetic plains (Ganganagar-Allahabad-Kolkata). When it shifts north to the Himalayan foothills, rain stops over most of the country - a break.
C. Both the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea currents
The SW monsoon arrives in two branches: the Arabian Sea branch onto the west coast and the Bay of Bengal branch into the north-east and the Gangetic plains. They meet over central and north India.
C. Pakistan
The monsoon heat low is centred over Pakistan and NW India, with the monsoon trough extending from it to the head of the Bay of Bengal.
B. Weak
In October-November one isobar can surround the whole country - the pressure field is flat, so surface winds are light and variable.
C. Central peninsula
Peninsular discontinuity is a trough line running north-south along the central peninsula in the pre-monsoon season, where the winds from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal meet.
B. March-May
March to May: rising temperatures, dust storms in the north-west, Norwesters in the east.
C. Winter
In winter north India is fed cold, dry continental air - clear skies, low humidity and low temperatures, broken only by western disturbances.
C. SW monsoon
Most of India receives the bulk of its annual rainfall - roughly three-quarters - from the SW monsoon, June to September.
A. SW monsoon
A vigorous monsoon brings a steep pressure gradient and strong south-westerly winds along the west coast, especially in June-July.
A. very strong
During a break, the monsoon trough shifts to the Himalayan foothills. The pressure gradient over east UP and Bihar can then tighten, and the surface winds there can at times be very strong.
Our independent check could not confirm this answer from the official sources we hold; treat it with care and confirm with your instructor.
B. Steep
In a vigorous monsoon the pressure gradient over the west coast steepens, strengthening the south-westerly current and the rain along the coast.
C. Mediterranean, Caspian and Black Seas
Western disturbances are born as depressions over the Mediterranean, Caspian and Black Sea region and travel east to north India in the westerlies, mainly in winter.
C. The position of the axis of Monsoon Trough
Where the monsoon trough lies decides where the rain falls. Along the Gangetic plains it gives a normal, active monsoon; shifted to the Himalayan foothills it gives a break.
A. SWly
The monsoon current strikes the west coast of India from the south-west - the SW monsoon - bringing heavy orographic rain on the Western Ghats.
A. Chota-Nagpur hills
Norwesters are the violent pre-monsoon thunderstorms of north-east India. They generally form over the Chota Nagpur plateau and move south-east over West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Our independent check could not confirm this answer from the official sources we hold; treat it with care and confirm with your instructor.
C. SW quadrant
The worst weather of a monsoon depression sits in its SW sector, where the rain is steady and heavy in a belt about 400 km wide; elsewhere it is scanty. Only when the depression re-curves does the rain belt shift to the N-NE sector.
C. A monsoon depression lies over the Odisha coast
In a break the monsoon trough shifts north to the Himalayan foothills, the plains turn dry and the low-level easterly flow over north India dies away. A monsoon depression sitting on the Odisha coast is the opposite - that is an ACTIVE monsoon situation feeding heavy rain into central India.
C. October
Tamil Nadu is on the lee side of the Western Ghats during the south-west monsoon, so July is comparatively dry there. Its rain comes with the north-east (retreating) monsoon, when the flow reverses and picks up moisture crossing the Bay of Bengal - October and November are the wettest months.
C. SW monsoon
During the south-west monsoon the seasonal low over north-west India and the high over the southern Indian Ocean set up a strong gradient across the coast, and that is what drives the steady, strong monsoon westerlies onto it. In winter the gradient over that coast is weak.
B. 15 October
Withdrawal begins from Rajasthan around 01 September and from north-west India by about 15 September, and the monsoon has left almost the whole country by 15 October. It is then replaced by the north-east monsoon, which is what brings Tamil Nadu its main rain in October and November.
These are candidates' recollections, not official DGCA papers: wording can differ from the paper as set. Every answer was checked against the DGCA CARs, AIP India, ICAO documents or worked calculation (independent check completed 17 Oct 2026). Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will check it against the source.