Even as widespread rain experienced over most parts of north India over the past 24 hours has overcome the severe deficit being faced by Punjab this month, there is a possibility of more rain later this week.
“A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from the night of January 14,” a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on January 12 said.
Under its influence, isolated rain activity is expected over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi on January 15 and 16, and isolated to scattered rainfall and snowfall activity is likely over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh from January 15 to 18, the bulletin added.
Till this current wet spell, Punjab was facing a rain deficit of 90 per cent for the month of January. With varying amounts of precipitation over the past two days, rain is now surplus by 27 per cent in the state.
From January 1 till the morning of January 12, Punjab received 7.6 mm rain compared to the long period average of 6 mm for this period, according to IMD data. Over the past 24 hours, rain was surplus by a massive 1,320 per cent, with the recorded downfall being 7.1 mm against the normal of 0.5 mm.
In January, rain in the neighbouring state of Haryana has now become surplus by 39 per cent, while that in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh is deficient by 80 per cent. Till the current wet spell, it was below normal in these states by 92 per cent and 89 per cent, respectively.
A western disturbance as a cyclonic circulation lies over Punjab and its neighbourhood in lower to upper tropospheric levels, while an induced cyclonic circulation lies over central parts of north Rajasthan and its neighbourhood, which is being attributed to the ongoing raining weather over the plains of north-west India.
There has also been a rise in minimum temperatures by 1- 5 degrees Celsius over many parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi over the past 24 hours. Minimum temperatures are appreciably above normal by 3.1 to 5 degrees at a few places in Punjab, according to the IMD.
A gradual fall in minimum temperatures by 2 to 3 degrees is likely over north-west India during the next 48 hours followed by a gradual rise by 2 to 4 degrees over the subsequent three days.
The weatherman has also predicted dense to very dense fog conditions during night and early morning hours in many parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, along with cold day conditions in some areas.
