TamilNadu Climate Tamilnadu has tropical climate - Factors influencing TN climate? a. Apparent position of Sun b.

Monsoonal Rains Vertical rays of sun fall on TN 2 times a yr. Temp inc's from 2nd week of Feb and inc until June. Hottest part is called Agni Nakshathiram (Star of Fire) or Kathiri Veyil. Temp dec from 2nd week of June to 1st week of Oct. Retreating monsoon / NorthEast monsoon -> October. May -> hottest month. Jan - coldest month Weather recording stations of TN: Coastal regions - chennai Interior Plains - Vellore HIlls -- kodaikanal Plateaus - Coimbatore Inland regions - Trichi Relative humidity - if high - more perspiration even if temp is low. it is higher in winter than in summer. I t is 68% in summer (MAy). 82% in winter (Jan). Summer - called ilavenil, muduvenil -> chithirai to aadi Rainy - called khar season, kulir -> avani - karthigai Winter- munpani, pinpani -> margazhi - panguni Rainy seasons -> 1. SouthWest monsoon 2. NorthEast monsoon 3. Cyclonic rainfall 1. Southwest -> between June and Sep. due to rain from western ghats. districts benefitted -> nilgirs, Kanyakumari, coimbator, salem, erode. Rain dec from west to east. So nilgris receive max of 70% -> 22% 2. NorthEast -> between October and Dec. coastal and interior plains benefit fro m this. NE monsoon associated with cyclonic rainfall. rainfall dec from east to west. chennai, kuddalore, nagapattinam etc receive 150 -200 cm of rainfall. -> 57% 3. Cyclone -> month of November. Low pressure formations in south of Bay of Be ngal intensify bringing rain to coastal regions of TN. -> 21% On basis of rainfall, TN is classified into 5 regions: 1. 2. 3. 4, 5. Very low rainfall -> Coimbatore/Tiruppur (below 800 mm) Low rainfall -> 800 - 1000 mm -> Trichi, perambalur, erode, namakkal Moderate rain -> 1000 - 1200 mm -> salem, theni, vellore etc High rain -> 1200 - 1400 -> Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Thiruvanamalai Very high rain -> above 1400 mm -> chennai, kanchi, nilgris, cuddalore etc

TamilNadu Vegatation Natural vegetation -> that grows naturally without effort from human every region shud have 33% of natural vegetation like forest. but TN has only 17 %. confined to western ghats. Nilgris district has teh highest forest area (50%) followed by Theni, Dharmapur and kk. Coastal regions - only casuarina trees Forest is Tropical evergreen forests. Javadi hills - has fruit bearing trees and sandal wood. Present in Vellore distr ict. Concentration of forests is in hilly areas. - 50% in nilgris. other districts ho ld only 1-5% under forest. Thanjavur is alluvial plain and is fit for agriculture and has less than 1% unde r forest. TN has large sandal wood plantation -> alomst 5,88,000 hectares. Types of trees found: Hardwood trees -> Coimbatore, nilgris adn KK. EG: Ebony, teak, ironwood, rosewoo d. heavy rainfall areas. Fuel trees - madurai, coimbatore, adn Tnveli Rubber - KK Matchstick making trees - foothills of western ghats, tirunelveli adn virudhunag ar districts Camphor and Eucalyptus trees are grown in Nilgris under AFFORESTATION. 5 types of natural vegetation 1. tropical evergreeen -> hardwood > 200 cm rain. 2. tropical deciduous -> leaves are shed to protect moisture during dry seasons . 100-200 cm rain. Also called monsoon fore sts. softwood and hardwood. Sal, sand alwood, teak, bamboo and paddock 3. Thorny shrub forest -> 4. Mangrove forest -> tropical and sub-tropical tidal areas having high salinity . Also along estuaries and backwaters. Pitchavaram, kodaikanal and Veda ranyam have mangrove forests. Pitchavaram has teh largest swamp forest cover - 1 214 hectares. 25 sq km Contains trees of genus Rhizopor a. Kodaikanal - 17 sq km Forest products - timber, fuel wood