Directions - Read the short passage below and answer the questions that follow.

India's climatic conditions vary based on her geographic and topographical locations, making predictions a bit difficult. India has six major climatic subtypes, from arid desert in the west, alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories, leave alone many regions having microclimates - local weather conditions. The country's meteorological department follows the international standard of four climatological seasons with some local adjustments: winter (December, January and February), summer (March, April and May), a monsoon rainy season (June to September), and a post-monsoon period (October to November). The Thar Desert in the northwest and the Himalayas in the north work in tandem to affect a culturally and economically important monsoonal regime. The Himalayas bar the influx of frigid katabatic winds i.e., wind coming down from a higher point, from the icy Tibetan Plateau and northerly Central Asia. Most of North India is thus kept warm or is only mildly chilly or cold. Equally, the same thermal dam keeps most regions in India hot in summer.