Characteristics of winter precipitation over Northwest India using high-resolution gridded dataset (1901–2013)

Abstract Purpose of the study is to analyze long-term climatology, variability and trends in the daily precipitation events ≥ 1 mm during winter season (Dec to Feb, DJF) over northwest India (NWI) and its related 9 subdivisions using a new high resolution (0.25° × 0.25°) data of India Meteorological Department from 1901 to 2013. The daily rainfall (DR) events are categorized into light rain (LR > 1–5 mm), moderate rain (MR 5–10 mm), heavy rain (HR 10–15 mm) and very heavy rain (VHR > 15 mm), where the contribution of VHR event to seasonal winter precipitation is found to be higher than that of other events. Seasonal precipitation increased over Jammu-Kashmir and Uttarakhand due to a significant increase in the frequency of total combined DR events, whereas an insignificant decrease in seasonal precipitation is noticed in other subdivisions. The analysis indicates that the relationship of various DR events and associated precipitation over NWI with NAO/AO is weakening and strengthening with Nin˜o–3.4 region SST/SOI (ENSO).