UP has seen a ‘longer spell’ of winter this year

LUCKNOW UP has experienced a ‘longer spell’ of winter this year. While December saw intense cold wave, January has been a story of fog, rain and cold winds that

LUCKNOW UP has experienced a ‘longer spell’ of winter this year. While December saw intense cold wave, January has been a story of fog, rain and cold winds that sent a chill down people’s spine.

HT Image

Heavy showers lashed many parts of the state on January 16 and 17 and dense fog crippled normal life. The district administration had to order closure of schools on a few occasions due to inclement weather.

The mercury had plummeted to 0.7 degrees Celsius in Lucknow on December 31.

“All this is due to western disturbances. This year, intense cold spell began from mid December. There are indications that the weather may take another U-turn, which will result in a drop in temperatures,” said JP Gupta, Met director.

“It may rain again on January 28-29, especially in the northern parts of the state. This will lead to another winter spell,” he said.

Dhruv Sen Singh, professor in geology department, Lucknow University, said: “This is a temporary phase. But this ‘extended’ cold weather explains clearly that anthropogenically induced global warming is a very minor issue before the natural system. Climate and weather change are 100%natural, whereas pollution, which is man driven, will only accelerate or moderate the rate of climate or weather change.”

Environmentalist VK Joshi said, “Western disturbances have aggravated the winter. If you ask me as a layman, I have not seen such a long winter spell here in my life.”

The Meteorological Centre (Lucknow) warned of dense fog at isolated places over the state. In Lucknow, mist/shallow fog was likely in the morning with clear sky later on. Maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 22 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Expect rain on Jan 28-29

“This is due to western disturbances. This year, intense cold spell began from mid December. There are indications that the weather may take another U-turn, which will result in a drop in temperatures,” said JP Gupta, Met director.

“It may rain again on January 28-29, especially in the northern parts of the state. This will lead to another spell of chill,” he said.