Cold wave to intensify in region from January 15; fresh spell of dense fog likely

Tribune Web Desk

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, January 14

After a brief respite, the people in northwest India should start preparing for another spell of dense fog and cold wave conditions from Friday, according to the IMD.

Meanwhile, an independent forecaster, Navdeep Dahiya, created quite a buzz on Thursday predicting “freezing -4°c to +2°c in plains” from January 14 to 19.

The cold wave, he said, would peak from January 16 to 18.

“Don’t know how to put this up but the upcoming spell of cold wave in India looks really extreme during 14-19th January 2023 with peak on 16-18th, Never seen temperature ensemble going this low in a prediction model so far in my career. Freezing -4°c to +2°c in plains, Wow!,” Dahiya tweeted.

India’s official forecaster IMD said the northwest India would experience fresh spell of dense fog and cold wave conditions from January 15 but whether the temperatures would fall to sub-zero levels is debatable.

Parts of Rajasthan, in many cold spells, see temperatures between 0 and -1°c, IMD officials said, adding that the temperatures might fall by 3-5°C from January 14.

“Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are likely over some parts of north Rajasthan.

“Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will experience cold wave conditions in isolated pockets on January 15, 16 and 17.

“Maximum temperatures over many parts of northwest and adjoining central India may fall by 3-5°C from January 14,” the IMD said.

Reasons for the bitter, extended cold in plains

While December 2022 remained relatively warmer this season, temperatures started dropping in January due to the absence of any Wester Disturbance (WD). After the snow on December 29, 30 and 31, skies mostly remained clear, resulting in cold winds from the upper reaches sweeping the plains.

However, two back-to-back WDs this week resulted in snow in the hills and increase in minimum temperatures in the plains.

Meanwhile, weathermen are also expecting the winter to overstay this season.

Normally, the temperatures start rising from January 14-15.

However, this year the cold is expected to stay till around last week, till about January 24-25, in what many call as another indication of change in climate due to global warming. 

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