The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday predicts that cold wave conditions will continue over the three days in Delhi and NCR, north and northwest parts of the country, with the night temperature expected to drop to 4 degrees Celsius by Monday.
According to IMD, the national Capital may get rain/drizzle between January 30 and February 1.
The night temperatures in most parts of north-west India will likely fall by about 2 degrees Celsius, according to predictions. In Delhi, the minimum temperature is recorded 5.2 degrees Celsius four notches below the season’s average. The maximum temperature in Delhi could rise by a degree or two by mid-week.
Meanwhile Drass in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh region was recorded of minus 28.7 degrees Celsius temperature on Sunday, Leh recorded minus 15.5 degrees Celsius and Kargil minus 20.7 as the night’s lowest temperatures. Keylong in Himachal Pradesh witnessed minus 17 degree Celsius.
“After good rainfall activities many parts of North India, dry weather has taken over during the last 24 hours as the present Western disturbance is only affecting the hills. The cold wave could continue well into the week till 30th, when widespread rains are predicted across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan,” the IMD said.
“ Thereafter, an active Western Disturbance will approach the Western Himalayas due to which rainfall activities expected how many parts of Punjab, two parts of Haryana and isolated pockets of Delhi and NCR,” it said. The minimum temperature dropped to six degrees Celsius in the national capital on Saturday, three notches below the season’s average.
Skymet Weather has predicted that the entire North-western India will remain under the grip of a cold wave for at least three days.
“The western disturbance, which caused rain in Delhi and other parts of northwest India recently, has moved eastward. The winds are now northerly or north-westerly. They are coming from colder regions in the hills, which have received widespread snowfall. This is why cold wave conditions will prevail over the northern plains including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi in the next 3-4 days,” the IMD said. The night chill, however, is not expected to last long, as the minimum temperature is expected to shoot up in the second half of next week. A fresh western disturbance is likely to cause widespread rain and snow over western Himalayan region and thundershowers over some parts in the plains of northwest and central India between January 30 and February 2, according to the IMD’s weather bulletin.
IMD also said that El Nino neutral conditions are currently prevailing over equatorial Pacific Ocean. The patterns of convection and winds are mostly near average over the tropical Pacific. The latest numerical forecast products available, indicate that EL Nino neutral conditions are likely to continue. Besides, neutral Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions are observed over Indian Ocean and majority of the forecasts indicate that the neutral IOD conditions are likely to continue during the coming months.
Skymet Weather Services has also predicted a similar weather pattern over the north-west plains. The weather department declares a cold wave if the temperature drops to 4 degrees Celsius or below and such a situation continues for at least two days.