Winter likely to be normal this season: IMD

Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of IMD, said that a detailed forecast for winter will be issued by November-end

PUNE The India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials have forecasted that winter will be close to normal or below normal minimum temperatures this season. A detailed forecast, officials from the weather department, will be issued by the end of November, giving more clarity on how winter will be this season.

Speaking about the impact of La Nina on winter, Dr DS Pai, who heads climate research and services at IMD, Pune said that multiple factors affect winter. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of IMD, said that a detailed forecast for winter will be issued by November-end.

“We give a detailed forecast for the winter season, that is December, January and February by November-end. Multiple factors affect the winter temperature,” said Dr Mohapatra.

He added that the chill in the southern part of the country is due to snowfall in the north.

“There was a western disturbance in the north by October end which led to snowfall in the northern part of India. This has led the cooler winds to travel to the southern part of India thus reducing the night temperature,” said Dr Mohapatra.

Weather scientists note that La Nina is one of the components for cooler than normal temperatures during the winter. La Nina is also a major associated with above-normal rainfall during monsoon.

As per the long-range forecast for November, at present La Niña conditions are prevailing over the Equatorial Pacific Ocean and neutral Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions are prevailing over the Indian Ocean.

“The latest global model forecasts indicate that the La Niña conditions are likely to prevail until March 2022 and neutral IOD conditions are likely to continue during the upcoming seasons,” said IMD officials.

Speaking about the impact of La Nina on winter, Dr DS Pai, who heads climate research and services at IMD, Pune said that multiple factors affect winter.

“Along with La Nina, there are other factors that affect the temperature in winter. All these factors and the detailed forecast will be issued on November end by IMD,” said Pai.