Colder winter in store for north India

Even as December is turning out to be the coldest in recent years, the weather agencies say the worst is yet to come, warning that the northern belt of India is expected to experience cold wave conditions over the next 3-4 days.

The weather conditions will also impact southern India, but to a certain extent.

Experts at weather forecasting agency Skymet explain that the cold wave conditions are yet to set in most of these northern regions.

"Yes, the number of cold days in NCR since 1997 is up in December, but within 3-4 days the nights might also get colder as the cold wave is expected to bring down the temperature further," Mahesh Palawat, Vice president Meteorology And climate Change, Skymet told .

"Due to a gap of about ten day in two western disturbances, the NCR has witnessed a gradual dip in the temperature. However, with next western disturbance expected to arrive by December 31, Delhi might experience cold waves in the coming days," Palawat said.

"Icy cold winds from Himalayas are responsible for the cold days in the NCR," Palawat added.

Earlier on Wednesday, cold conditions continued in the national capital as it witnessed a foggy morning with the mercury at 5.4 degree Celsius, three notches below the season's average, the weather office said.

According to the India Meteorological Department Delhi has so far recorded longest and extremely cold spell in December since 1997. It also said that while Delhi witnessed 17 cold days in December 1997, this time it has recorded 10 cold days in a row.

Before this, in December 2014, Delhi saw severe cold continuing for eight consecutive days, the IMD added.

Not just Delhi, but neighbouring Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurugram were also under the grip of severe cold wave. The weather office said the cold day to severe cold day conditions will continue in the city till December 28, along with dense to very dense fog at night and morning hours.

According to Skymet, Telangana is set to witness scattered rain in isolated pockets in the state within 3-4 days, while Kerala and South Tamil Nadu are already witnessing rains in the region.

Telangana will witness a dip in temperature post-rain. However, the dip would be small; not enough for the cold condition to set in.

In North-West region, comprising Rajasthan and Gujarat, the temperature will drop marginally.

IAN

( With inputs from IANS )