Why is north India witnessing a colder-than-usual winter this year? It is due to early and heavy snowfall in the region and the western disturbance across east Jammu and Kashmir moving downwards.
Since dry north-westerly winds are prevailing over the plains of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the minimum temperatures have dropped in north India.
According to Charan Singh, scientist, India Meteorological Department (IMD), north India will witness colder winter this year compared to Central and Western India.
In its forecast, IMD warned that the north and north western parts of the country, which include Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, are getting affected by this severe weather. The IMD said a cold wave prevails when a place witnesses temperatures below four degrees Celsius over a consistent period of time.
The IMD said as a result of drop in temperatures, high moisture content will prevail over the northern region which results in ground frost. Frost is formed when the dew on the ground freezes and forms a thin layer of ice due to the sudden drop in temperatures.
Officials said frost has already started to damage in plants like potato, peas, tomatoes and capsicum in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
The IMD also said analysis of minimum temperature data over the country during the last four decades suggested a decreasing trend in the frequency and duration of cold waves in many parts of the country.
Rajasthan is one State which is the coldest with isolated pockets seeing minimum temperatures close to the 0 degree mark. Churu is the coldest city in plains of India, with its night temperature settling at 1.1 degrees Celsius. In Uttar Pradesh, Muzaffarnagar recorded 0.4 degrees Celsius followed by Agra that recorded 3.7 degrees Celsius.
The eastern districts of UP will witness below normal temperatures during morning hours along with light to moderate fog appearing over the region.
Presently, many parts of Punjab and Haryana have come under the grip of cold wave condition. At most places, the night temperatures are below normal by 2 to 4 degrees. The minimum temperature recorded in Aadampur was 1.5 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 2.3 degrees Celsius, Bathinda 2.9 degrees Celsius, Faridkot 2.0 degrees Celsius, Karnal 4 degrees Celsius, Narnaul 3.5 degrees Celsius.
Dry north-westerlies prevail over Bihar as well as Jharkhand. Moderate fog was also observed during morning hours over many places. The minimums dropped over many parts of the states and remained below normal by 2-3 degrees Celsius. Likewise, day temperatures have also shown a drop by 1-2 degrees Celsius over many parts. In the coming days, as most parts of Bihar and Jharkhand will continue to witness north-westerlies, the minimums would continue to remain below normal by 3-4 degrees Celsius. Similarly, the maximums will also remain marginally below normal.
In the absence of any significant weather system, dry winds are continuing over the entire State of Maharashtra. However, during the last 24 hours, a significant drop has been noticed in the night temperatures of the State. The lowest temperature of the season has been recorded over Ahmednagar at 6.4 degrees Celsius, which is below normal by 4.9 degrees Celsius. Pune too has recorded its minimums at 8.8 degrees Celsius, below normal by 2.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Jalgaon at 9 degrees Celsius and Nashik by 9.3, below normal by 2 degrees Celsius . Further, for the entire region of Madhya Maharashtra, day will be experienced as comfortable in the coming days.