New Delhi, January 21: The India Meteorological Department has forecast a prolonged wet spell over the Western Himalayan region during the next seven days under the influence of a Western Disturbance.
According to the weather office, there is a possibility of isolated heavy rainfall or snowfall over the Kashmir Valley on January 22 and 23, while similar conditions are expected over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on January 23. Isolated to scattered rainfall is also likely over the adjoining plains of northwest India between January 22 and 24.
The IMD said dense fog is very likely at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh during the next two to three days. On Tuesday morning, very dense fog was reported in parts of Haryana and west Rajasthan, while dense fog prevailed in isolated areas of Punjab, west Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan and Meghalaya.
Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions were observed in some parts of Himachal Pradesh, with cold wave conditions reported at isolated locations in Punjab. Ground frost was recorded in isolated pockets of Uttarakhand.
During the past 24 hours ending at 8:30 am on Tuesday, minimum temperatures ranged between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius at a few places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Temperatures between 5 and 9 degrees Celsius were recorded at many places across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, and at a few places in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Minimum temperatures remained above normal by 2 to 5 degrees Celsius over central India, adjoining western India, Haryana, east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Meghalaya. Below-normal temperatures of 2 to 4 degrees Celsius were recorded at isolated places in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu, while temperatures were near normal across the rest of the country. The lowest minimum temperature of 2.8 degrees Celsius was reported from Amritsar.
The IMD further stated that an upper air cyclonic circulation is present over northwest Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas in the lower tropospheric levels. An intense Western Disturbance is likely to impact northwest India from the night of January 21.
Upper air cyclonic circulations were also observed over the southeast Bay of Bengal in the middle tropospheric levels and over northeast Assam in the lower tropospheric levels. Additionally, a subtropical westerly jet stream with core wind speeds of around 130 knots at about 12.6 km above mean sea level is prevailing over north India.
