The mountains affect the monsoon winds to a considerable degree. They act as a barrier and direct the monsoon winds in a specific direction as long as the monsoon track is set in a particular direction.

Perhaps the best example of this effect is the Indian monsoon. When the moisture-laden monsoon winds hit the Western Ghats with all their fury, the Western Ghats mountain range divides them into two parts. One branch moves up from Kerala towards Mumbai and continues its journey to Surat before losing its strength.

The second branch meets the Bay of Bengal branch in West Bengal and since there are mountains to the north and east of this area, the monsoon wind is forced to move northwest from Kolkata towards Amritsar; before entering Pakistan in Lahore. Entering Pakistan, it exerts its full force in the outer Himalayas near Murree and since it cannot advance any further, the area at the foot of the hills like Islamabad receives heavy rain due to its proximity to the hills.

Similarly, Muzaffarabad in the Kashmir area, backed by high mountains, takes advantage of the mountain effect and copious rainfall occurs here too. Rawalakot has a similar effect, but the best example in the world is an area of ​​India that we will describe shortly.

Cherrapunji, a station located at about 4,500 feet. High up in the Khasi Hills, it is so well situated that both the Indian Ocean Branch and the Bay of Bengal Monsoon Branch meet in full force at this location. Second, due to the particular position of the surrounding hills, this enhanced monsoon wind cannot escape and gives exceptionally heavy rains in this season. Sometimes up to 40 inches can fall on Cherrapunji in a single day.

The second most dramatic effect can be seen at Mahabaleshwar, a station located roughly the same height above sea level as Cherrapunji and overlooking the Mumbai coastline. Here too the high hills of the Western Ghats behind this station force the monsoon winds to rise, cool and the resulting condensation produces thick clouds with exceptionally heavy rain.

Leaving India aside, the same mountain effect can also be found in Myanmar and in Bangladesh, where Chittagong, backed by the high Arakanese Range, receives more rain than anywhere else in Bangladesh.

In short, mountains in South Asia greatly increase monsoon rainfall activity and places near high hills receive exceptionally heavy rainfall.