A monsoon is a regional wind that reverses directions seasonally. In southern Asia, wet, hot monsoon winds blow from the southwest during the summer months and bring heavy rains to a large area that includes India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal. Northeasterly winds (winds are named by the direction from which they blow) that blow down from the Himalaya Mountains in the winter are cool and dry. Monsoon winds occur in many regions around the world, in Africa, Australia, and in North America, where the Mexican monsoon brings over half of the year's total rain to Northern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico each June through August. The Mexican monsoon is a smaller version of the classic and wellknown southern Asian monsoon.

The word monsoon comes from the Arabic word mausim which means "season." In southern Asia, the monsoon controls the seasons: hot and wet in the summer...