Met predicts light rain from January 25

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, January 22

The weatherman is expecting some rain and snow over the western Himalayas later this week even as the North continues to reel under a cold wave with day time temperatures dipping up to nine degrees below normal.

“Following fresh western disturbance, light isolated rainfall or snowfall is likely over the western Himalayan region from January 25-28,” a weather bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said.

Cold to severe cold day conditions are likely to continue during the next three days and decrease in intensity, thereafter, while dense to very dense fog is likely to prevail during the next 4-5 days, the bulletin added.

Punjab and Haryana have remained totally dry so far in January, while the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh has received just a trace of rain.

According to the IMD data, from January 1 to 21, Himachal received just 0.1 mm rain against the normal for 50.3 for this period. For Punjab and Haryana, the normal rainfall for this period is 10.4 mm and 7.8 mm, respectively.

During the past 24 hours, cold to severe cold day conditions prevailed in many parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, along with dense fog being experienced over some places.

In Haryana, the maximum temperature ranged from 9.6 degrees Celsius in Panchkula to 18.5 degrees Celsius at Narnaul. The deviation was the highest in Rohtak and Hisar, where day temperature was nine degrees below normal. Minimum temperatures in the state ranged from 2.9 degrees Celsius at Mahendragarh to 7.5 degrees Celsius at Kurukshetra, according to the IMD data.

In Punjab, day temperatures were up to 8.3 degrees below normal, ranging from 8.5 degrees Celsius at Ballowal Saunkhri in SBS Nagar to 13 degrees Celsius at Gurdaspur. Minimum temperatures were in the range of 4 degrees Celsius at Bathinda to 7.9 degrees Celsius at Amritsar.

Jet stream winds of the order of 130-150 knots (240-280 kmph) at 12,600 metres above the mean sea level are prevailing over the plains, leading to subsidence of cold air and enhancing cold wave/cold day conditions. These are likely to continue during the next 3-4 days.

The weatherman has also predicted a rise in minimum temperatures by 2-3 degrees Celsius during the next five days over the northwest.

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