India, March 21 -- There is no official spring season in India, but March can be considered as one because it is the month of the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, and also the first month after India's official winter season, which runs from December to February.

However, March has only occasionally seen the pleasant weather associated with spring in recent years. This is because either cool winter weather extends into March or there is a quick plunge into hot weather; sometimes a combination of the two affects different parts of the month. This year, March has so far behaved in a similar way, an HT analysis shows.

To be sure, on average, March appears almost benign till now. India's average maximum temperature for the month (...