During the monsoon season between June and September, the unbroken Western Ghats chain acts as a barrier to the moisture-laden clouds. The heavy, eastward-moving rain-bearing clouds are forced to rise and in the process deposit most of their rain on the windward side. Rainfall in this region averages to with localised extremes reaching . The eastern regions of the Western Ghats, which lie in the rain shadow, receive far less rainfall (about ), resulting in an average rainfall of across all regions. The total amount of rain does not depend on the spread of the area; areas in northern Maharashtra receive heavy rainfall followed by long dry spells, while regions closer to the equator receive less annual rainfall and have rain spells lasting several months in a year.