Temps drop in several parts of North India; IMD forecasts harsher winter for region

Temperatures in several parts of north India, including Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, were appreciably below the normal on Sunday, with the IMD forecasting a harsher winter for the region and the national capital likely to record its coldest November in at least 10 years. In its all-India bulletin, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) also said that a "well marked low pressure area" lies over southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of south Andaman Sea and equatorial Indian Ocean with associated cyclonic circulation.

This is very likely to concentrate into a depression during the next 36 hours and intensify further, it said as it warned fishermen not to venture into central parts of south Bay of Bengal on Monday. For the national capital, IMD data showed that it is likely to record its coldest November in at least 10 years, with the mean minimum temperature for the month this year hovering around 10 degrees Celsius.

In Delhi, the average minimum temperature for the month of November is 12.9 degrees Celsius. From November 1 to November 29, the city has recorded a mean minimum temperature of 10.3 degrees Celsius, which is the lowest in at least a decade, according to the IMD data.

The mean minimum temperature was 15 degrees Celsius last year, 13.4 degrees Celsius in 2018 and 12.8 degrees Celsius in 2017 and 2016. On Sunday, Delhi recorded a minimum of seven degrees Celsius. This is the seventh day this month that the minimum temperature remained below 10 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature is likely to settle around seven degrees Celsius on Monday as well, according to the IMD.

On November 23, Delhi recorded a minimum of 6.3 degrees Celsius -- its lowest minimum temperature in the month since November 2003, when the city recorded a minimum of 6.1 degrees Celsius, according to Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre. The minimum temperature this month, barring on November 16, has remained 2-3 degrees Celsius below normal in the absence of a cloud cover on most days, according to IMD officials.

Clouds trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation and radiate it back downward, warming the ground. IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said that North India is likely to expect a harsher winter and can see a rise in the frequency of cold waves this season.

The meteorological department, in its winter forecast for December to February, said below normal minimum temperatures are likely over north and central India. "The winter is likely to be harsher in north India this season," Mohapatra said.

He added that the night temperatures in north India are likely to be below normal, while the day temperatures are expected to be above normal. In Jammu and Kashmir, the MeT department in Srinagar has forecast light rain or snow at isolated places in the higher reaches of Kashmir.

Barring Qazigund -- the gateway town to Kashmir -- sub-zero night temperatures were experienced across the region, officials said. The mercury in Srinagar, which had recorded the minimum temperature of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius on Friday, settled at a low of minus 1.4 degrees Celsius, they said.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district recorded a low of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, while the mercury settled at a low of minus 2.3 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir's Anantnag district. Gulmarg was the coldest recorded place in the union territory.

The officials said the mercury settled at the minimum of 0.4 degrees Celsius in Qazigund, minus 0.7 degrees Celsius in Kupwara and minus 0.3 degrees Celsius in Kokernag. In Rajasthan, night temperatures dipped by a few degrees in some parts of the state.

Mount Abu was coldest place in the state with a minimum temperature of one degree Celsius, the MeT department said. Churu registered a minimum temperature of 4.1 degrees Celsius. There was some relief from cold wave in Himachal Pradesh as the minimum temperature in the state increased by two to three notches in the last 24 hours, Shimla MeT centre director Manmohan Singh said Keylong was the coldest place in the state at minus 4.5 degrees Celsius and Kalpa recorded a low of 1.8 degrees Celsius, he sad.

The minimum temperature in Manali, Kufri and Dalhousie was recorded at 3.8, 9.8 and 10.7 degrees Celsius respectively. On the depression in the Bay of Bengal, the IMD said that heavy rainfall is very likely over some parts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Lakshadweep, coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh from December 1 to December 3.

Since Saturday, heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded at isolated places over Andaman and Nicobar Islands and heavy rainfall at isolated places over coastal Andhra Pradesh, it said..