Cold wave to be back in northwest India from January 22

Minimum temperatures over northwest India are likely to fall gradually by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius during the next four or five days due to dry northwesterly winds bringing cold air from the Himalayas

A western disturbance is impacting the Western Himalayas, which is likely to bring light rain or snow to the hills and light rain to the north western plains on Friday. The impact will gradually reduce on Saturday, according to the India Meteorological Department.

Minimum temperatures are expected to fall in Delhi from January 11.(Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

Minimum temperatures over northwest India are likely to fall gradually by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius during the next four or five days due to dry northwesterly winds which are bringing cold air from the snow-clad Himalayas.

“We can expect minimum temperatures to fall in Delhi from January 11. The wind speed will be around 20 to 25 kmph for the next three days in association with the present western disturbance. We are not expecting any intense western disturbance in the next 10 days so the weather is likely to be dry in most parts of northwest India,” said Kuldeep Shrivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre.

Due to abundant moisture and other favourable meteorological features, dense to very dense fog is also likely over isolated pockets in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on January 9 and 10.

“Due to the prevailing dry north/northwesterly winds over most parts of northwest India, minimum temperature will fall gradually by 3-5 degrees Celsius during the next 4-5 days causing “cold wave” conditions over Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan during January 11 and 12.

Under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over southeast Arabian Sea and another cyclonic circulation over south Sri Lanka; widespread rainfall with moderate thunderstorm and lightning is very likely over southern peninsular India during the next 3-4 days.

Heavy rainfall is also likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal and Kerala during January 8 to 11 and over coastal and south interior Karnataka on January 8 and 9.

Due to a trough (area of low pressure) in low level easterlies from southeast Arabian Sea to Gujarat region, isolated to scattered rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning is also likely over Maharashtra and Goa during the next two days.

Between Thursday and Friday morning, Agumbe in Karnataka recorded 11cm rain; Piravam and Ernakulam in Kerala 8cm and 7cm each; Sringeri and Puttur in Karnataka 7cm and 8cm each. Rainfall will continue over the region for at least a week due to intense easterly waves according to IMD’s two week outlook released on Friday.

It also says that below-normal minimum temperatures are likely over Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Marathawada and Vidarbha during the next couple of weeks.