Is winter monsoon rainfall over South Peninsular India increasing in global warming era

Abstract The long term (1871–2006) tendencies of Winter Monsoon Rainfall (WMR) over the five meteorological subdivisions of South Peninsular (SP) India and SP India as a whole are evaluated. These tendencies are compared with those of Global Warming (GW) era (1970–2006). It is found that during GW period, the SP India and the subdivisions experienced high positive tendencies. Further, it is observed that an increase in WMR is closely associated with the weakening of Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), the increasing of north–south temperature gradient over the Bay of Bengal and the intensification of westerly jet stream.