New Delhi: It’s time to get all your thick and warm clothes ready as the coming winters are set to be a lot chilly this year. As the winter is approaching the country, the India Meteorological Department has hinted towards a colder winter than usual this time. Also Read - Delhi Witnesses Coldest October In 58 Years

The indications are already here as Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 11.6 degrees Celsius (C) on Monday morning, 5 degrees C below normal, indicating the early onset of winter. This October was also the coldest Delhi has experienced in 58 years, with the mean minimum temperature for the month at 17.2 degrees Celsius, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Which states will be affected?

The core cold wave (CW) zone will cover northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, extending through Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana.

Here’s the reason why

As per the IMD, the next three months are expected to be dominated by frequent and intense episodes of cold waves in the country. The main factor behind the stark winter forecast is the prevailing weak La Niña over the Pacific Ocean since August 2020.

IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra explained that if the parameters at a large scale are considered, i.e the El Nino and the La Nina, then this year, India would witness rich La Nina conditions. That means the temperature prevalent over the northern part of the country would be low, causing winters to be relatively colder.

“As weak La Nina condition is prevailing, we can expect more cold this year. The El Nino and La Nina conditions play a dominant role if you consider the large scale factor for the occurrence of cold wave conditions,” Mohapatra was quoted as saying by PTI.

“La Nina conditions are favourable for cold wave conditions, while El Nino conditions are unfavourable for it,” he said.

Notably, La Nina is a climate pattern that describes the cooling of the Pacific waters while El Nino is characterised by unusually warm ocean temperatures. Both factors are also believed to have an impact on the Indian monsoon as well.

In India for example, El Nino is associated with drought or weak monsoon while La Nina is associated with strong monsoon and above-average rains and colder winters. There could be a higher frequency of intense cyclones over the Bay of Bengal due to La Nina, which could also result in colder winters this time.

Further, he also added that there should not be an impression that climate change leads to rise in the temperature, but on the contrary, it leads to erratic weather.