Diurnal and intraseasonal variations observed on the West Coast of India

As part of the Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX), several automatic weather stations (AWSs) were installed on the west coast of India, and some among them have been recording weather data for more than one year. Here temporal variations observed at three coastal stations, namely Honnavar, Karwar and Vijaydurg during July 2002 to December 2003 are presented. The seasonal variations in air temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc., are along the expected lines. A strong diurnal variation in rainfall pattern is observed, but the dependence on local time is different at Honnavar and Vijaydurg which are not more than 250 kilometres apart. It is shown that the surface pressure exhibits strong variations on different time scales throughout the year, and the dominant time scales shift with the seasons.