Geography and Climate

Geography
The district lies between latitudes
11ￂ 40 ' to 12° 48 ' North and
longitudes 74ￂ 52 ' to 76° 07 ' East
and covers an area of 2 ,996 km² .
Kannur can be geographically
divided into highland, midland and
lowland regions. Highlands are the
mountainous region forming part
of the Western Ghats and are
covered by rainforests , plantations
of coffee , tea and different types
of spices like cardamom . There
are also timber plantations in this
region. The midland region lies
between the highlands and
lowlands and is made up of
undulating hills and valleys. The
lowland is the narrow stretch
comprising of rivers , deltas and
the coastal region. Six rivers drain
Kannur, the longest being the
Valapattanam river with a length
of 110 km. Other rivers flowing
through Kannur district are
Kuppam, Mahe River, Anjarakandi,
Thalassery, Ramapuram and
Perumba. Climate The district has
a humid climate with an oppressive
hot season from March to the end
of May. This is followed by the
South-West monsoon which
continues till the end of
September. October and November
from the post- monsoon [North-
East Monsoon] or retreating
monsoon season. During the
months of April and May, the mean
daily maximum temperature is
about 35 ° C. Temperature is low in
December and January and the
minimum temperature is about 20
° C. On certain days the night
temperature may go down to 16 °
C , although this is extremely rare.
The annual average rainfall is
3438 mm and more than 80 % of it
occurs during the period of South-
West monsoon. The rainfall during
July is very heavy and the district
receives 68 % of the annual rainfall
during this season.