Even before the beginning of the winter season, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecasted record-breaking winter conditions for Delhi. As the forecast predicted, North India is currently gripped by severe cold weather.
Gurugram on Monday recorded the coldest night at 0.6 degrees Celsius, and Delhi hit the minimum temperature as low as 3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, falling lower than Shimla. Major parts of North India continue to reel under severe cold wave conditions.
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Why North India Is Experiencing Severe Cold
Weather experts attributed the cold conditions in major parts of North India to a lack of western disturbance combined with winds coming from the Himalayas. "There is no western disturbance over northwest India, and cold winds are incoming from the Himalayas with a vertical extension of 5-6 kilometres. Thus, the temperatures are much lesser than normal,” IMD senior scientist Naresh Kumar was quoted as saying by NDTV.tina
According to Kumar, cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are very likely to persist over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Odisha for the next 2–3 days, after which they are expected to gradually ease.
Dense fog is forecast to remain a prominent feature during morning hours across northwest India and Bihar for the next 5–6 days. He further stated that an active western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India in the coming days, triggering weather activity in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.