Where are winter gods chilling out?

THE USUAL EARLY OCTOBER chill is just not in the air and that?s what has left the city hot and sticky. The coolers are on, and so are the ACs. But, winter gods don?t seem to be in a mood to oblige Lucknowites. Are they busy somewhere else?

THE USUAL EARLY OCTOBER chill is just not in the air and that’s what has left the city hot and sticky.

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The coolers are on, and so are the ACs. But, winter gods don’t seem to be in a mood to oblige Lucknowites. Are they busy somewhere else?

Weathermen say it’s normal, but sweating Lucknowites don’t find anything normal about it and miss the pre-Diwali chill.

“I AM a Durga Puja enthusiast for years. I have been visiting Puja pandals during day and nighttime. But this is the first time that during nighttime visits I did not notice any one wearing any light warm clothes. Generally, you witness a couple of people wearing shawls or light jackets.

This is AK Mishra, chatting on weather with a colleague, outside Krishi Bhawan sipping on syrupy tea at a stall on sultry October day.

October and sultriness are antonymous. But this time it looks different. The third day of October has gone by and still that mild chill in the wind has not set in. There is no breeze. The weather in October is like that of August.

“Yes, people’s complaints and observations are not totally misplaced. Generally, by this time mild chill sets in. And even the Sun is hot during the day, at least there is no sultriness,” said RK Verma, Director, Meteorological Centre, Amausi Airport.

So, what are the reasons and explanations for this? “This time there has been a slight delay in departure of maritime air. Normal date of monsoon’s departure is September 30, but this time it has lingered on till now. Due to this, there is intense moisture in the air. Besides, this is the situation that all clouds have gone and there is no pollution in the air in the post-monsoon time. Due to this the sunrays are direct. So there is heat,” says the weatherman. But he does not declare it to be abnormal. “Any advancement or delay in a pattern of weather by a week cannot be called abnormality. In fact it’s considered normal from our technical point of view,” he says.

And what about days to come? “Maritime air is going away and as soon as it goes away, at the most three days now, it will get replaced by continental air.

And this will first start making night temperatures to drop and then gradually day temperatures too will start going down. In two three days this high moisture would recede.” If you notice the temperatures in previous years in October around same time have been quite similar to what we have now. It’s the moisture content that his creating problems, he says.