Northwest India in grip of intense cold; relief likely from Jan 19

A biting cold wave swept north and northwest India on Monday with the minimum temperature settling in the range of one to three degrees Celsius in many partsWith the frigid northwesterly winds from the Himalayas setting in over the plains it is likely to get even colder in the region in the next two daysThe Indian Meteorological Department IMD said cold wave conditions will abate from January 19 under the influence of two western disturbances which are likely to affect the region in quick successionWhen a western disturbance a weather system characterised by warm moist winds from the Middle East approaches a region the wind direction changesThe chilly northwesterly winds from the mountains stop blowing leading to an increase in temperaturesCold wave to severe cold wave conditions prevailed in many parts of Delhi and some parts of Punjab Haryana Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh the IMD said in a statementThe minimum temperatures are in the range of one to three degrees Celsius over many parts of Punjab Haryana Chandigarh and Delhi northwest and east Rajasthan in the range of three to five degrees Celsius over the remaining parts of Rajasthan many parts of west Uttar Pradesh it saidChuru located near the Thar desert logged a minimum temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius the lowest in the plains on MondayAlso Read Severe cold wave in Delhi mercury plunges to 14 degrees CelsiusThe Safdarjung observatory Delhis base station saw the minimum temperature plunge to 14 degrees Celsius the lowest in the month since January 1 2021The weather station at Lodhi Road where the IMD headquarter is located recorded a minimum temperature of 16 degrees CelsiusThe minimum temperature plunged to 28 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar in southwest Delhi two degrees Celsius at the Ridge in central Delhi and 22 degrees Celsius at Jafarpur in west DelhiThe IMD said minimum temperatures are very likely to fall further by about 2 degrees Celsius over many parts of northwest India till January 17It said minimum temperatures will gradually rise by three to five degrees Celsius from January 18 to January 20 under the influence of the two fresh western disturbancesIn the plains a cold wave is declared if the minimum temperature dips to four degrees Celsius or when it is 10 degrees Celsius and 45 notches below normalA severe cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal limits is by more than 64 notchesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever