E-Paper
January was unusually warm for entire country except NW India
Overall, India recorded the fifth warmest January following 2016, 2009, 1958 and 1931, according to IMD’s analysis
Only northwest India recorded below normal temperatures this January compared to the southern peninsula which was significantly warmer than normal; central India and northeast India.
The mean temperature in January over northwest India was 11.75 degrees C (°C), 0.22°C below normal; the maximum temperature was 17.93°C, 0.40°C below normal and the minimum temperature was 5.57°C, 0.04°C below normal.
When compared to the rest of the country, northwest India was the only region that recorded a harsh winter, but other regions recorded substantially above normal (average for 1971 to 2021 period) temperatures, according to India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) analysis.
This was mainly a result of unusual rains in northwest India and south peninsula in January, experts said. The mean temperature over south peninsula was 26.36°C, 1.07°C above normal; over central India it was 21.55°C, 0.87°C above normal and over northeast India, it was 17.19°C, 0.69°C above normal.
Overall, India recorded the fifth warmest January following 2016, 2009, 1958 and 1931, according to IMD’s analysis. IMD will be releasing a detailed report on temperature and rainfall patterns in January later today.
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The average maximum, minimum and mean temperature for the country as a whole during December 2020 are 26.6°C, 15.1°C and 20.9°C respectively against the normal of 26.6°C, 14.4°C and 20.5°C respectively. In December, the temperatures were near normal for almost all regions.
The report is also likely to show that south peninsula made a record in terms of rainfall this January. “In the first two weeks of January, there was widespread rain in northwest India due to an intense Western Disturbance and also extremely widespread and heavy rains in southern peninsula due to easterly activity. So there has been a lot of clouding. When there is a cloud cover, the heat is not able to escape from the surface at night. High moisture and clouding have resulted in above normal temperatures across the country except northwest India, “said DS Pai, senior scientist, IMD, Pune.
