Number Theory: Has spring arrived early this year?

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Anecdotally, this appears to be a warmer than usual winter for large parts of India. Is that really the case? An HT analysis of the gridded data of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) – it gives data for maximum and minimum temperatures separately – shows that the feeling of warmth this winter is more due to minimum temperatures than maximum temperatures. However, even maximum temperatures have turned warmer than usual from the third week of January, with the past week averaging closer to what is usual for the week ending February 24. This might be the reason why the weather right now feels almost like spring.

People enjoy the sun at Vasudev Ghat in New Delhi on Monday.(Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Has spring arrived early this year?

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