Cold wave and dense fog condition to prevail in North India

New Delhi: North and central India including the capital region will experience cold weather for the next two to three days, as icy winds blowing from western Himalaya and the La Nina phenomena cause a drop in temperature.
This will also lead to dense fog conditions with visibility at below 200 metres in the morning hours, which can impact the transport and power sectors.

“The cold and chilly winter this year is due to the prevailing La Nina condition which is a weather phenomenon caused due to the cooling of the Pacific Ocean. This has led to the drop in temperature and long spells of cold. Also, the western disturbances brought rains and snowfall in the first week of January which has also impacted the weather,” said M Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

On Saturday, Safdarjung, which provides the representative data for Delhi, recorded a low of 6.6 degree Celsius, while Palam saw 8.5 degree Celsius. The capital experienced its coldest day of this winter season on January 1, when the minimum temperature was 1.1 degree Celsius.

Due to the prevalence of dry north and north-westerly winds, minimum temperatures are likely to fall by 2-4 degrees over most parts of northwest India during the next two days, according to the department’s forecast on Friday.

This will lead to very dense fog and severe cold wave conditions over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and east Madhya Pradesh during the next two days, the forecast added.

According to the IMD, cold wave conditions occur when the mercury falls below 10 degrees in the plains, and the minimum temperature stays at least 4.5 degrees below the normal level.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of regional forecasting at the Regional Meteorological Department in Delhi, told ET that temperatures will begin to rise from January 19. “The La Nina conditions will persist till the first week of February 2021. We expect day temperatures to gradually increase from January-end which will give some respite to people,” he said.

In its winter season forecast in October, the IMD had said this year's winter will likely be colder than usual by 1-2 degrees Celsius.