Skip to main content

India is experiencing a warmer winter

Persistent above normal temperatures have been recorded in many regions of the country
After the monsoon, it’s the winter season which has played truant with India. More than half of the winter season has passed, but the characteristic chill felt in many parts is missing due to persistent above normal temperatures.
Palam in New Delhi witnessed a maximum temperature of 25.7°C on January 12, 2016, which was 6°C above normal. Minimum temperature in this region on the morning of January 13 was 13.9°C, 7°C above normal. Srinagar, which is in the middle of Chilai Kalan (40-day harsh winter period), witnessed minimum temperature of -2.5°C on January 13, which is still 5°C above normal. Most places in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, western Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha in Maharashtra witnessed maximum temperatures which were 2-5°C above normal on January 12. 
This warm weather might be good news for those who don’t like the winter, but such weather and temperature fluctuations adversely impact the growth of winter crops. Apples of Himachal Pradesh and strawberries of Maharashtra have been affected by the warm and dry weather.
Generally, during winter, temperatures often fluctuate but never stay above or below normal for extended periods. This means that a few days during winter may not experience cold conditions. People living in northern Indian states observe this rise in temperatures whenever the weather turns cloudy due to arrival of a western disturbance. But once the western disturbance passes, temperatures return to normal or many times fall below normal. 
But this winter season (October 2015 onwards), the number of such warm days appears to be high. More importantly, anomalies in the maximum temperatures have been higher than those in the minimum temperatures. This means the days have been quite warm. This weather data will give us an idea of how warm the winter has been.
October to December maximum temperature departure from normal (Image Credit: World Ag Weather)
October to December minimum temperature departures from normal (Image credit: World Ag Weather)
December maximum temperature departure from normal (Image credit: World Ag Weather)
December minimum temperature departure from normal (Image credit: World Ag Weather)
Normal v anomalous wind pattern at 5,000 feet above ground (Credit: NCEP)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Inland Waterways in India

Here are some key points you need to know: The bill seeks to add 106 inland waterways to the existing six National Waterways on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and comments of several state governments The bill will also look after the renovation and maintenance of the existing waterways Out of the 106 new waterways, 18 have already been identified. These include five waterways each from Karnataka and Meghalaya, three each from Maharashtra and Kerala, one each from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan The bill also aims to help the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to develop the feasible stretches for Shipping and Navigation. Let us look at the six existing National Waterways in India: National Waterway 1 (NW1) The National Waterway No. 1 uses a 1,620-kilometre stretch of the Ganges River. It was declared a national waterway in the year 1986 and runs from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal....

INS Kadmatt commissioned at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam

INS Kadmatt commissioned at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam  INS Kadmatt, the second ship of Project 28 class ,anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes, was commissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. INS  Kadmatt  is the second of four anti-submarine warfare corvettes built for the Indian Navy by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers of Kolkata under Project 28. INS Kadmatt has been named after the Kadmat Island of India’s Lakshadweep Islands. The primary role of the INS  Kadmatt  is in anti submarine warfare – to protect ships in convoys and ports from enemy submarine attacks. What is anti submarine warfare? Anti-submarine warfare    is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines. Successful anti-submarine warfare depends on a mix of sensor and weapon technology, training, experience and luck. Soph...

Environment Ministry notifies revised standards for Common Effluent Treatment Plants

Environment Ministry notifies revised standards for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) Across industrial clusters-PIB CETP • The concept of common effluent treatment plant has been accepted as a  solution for collecting, conveying, treating, and disposing of the effluents  from the industrial estates. • The effluent include industrial wastewaters and domestic sewage generated  from the estate. • This CETP concept helps small and medium scale industries to dispose of  their effluents. Otherwise it may not be economical for these industries to  treat their wastewaters or there may be space constraints. • Some of these industries may require to give preliminary treatment (for  removal of solids) so that the receiving sewers can be maintained free  flowing. • It may be required to correct pH or removal of specific pollutant before the  industry discharges in CETP. CETP • CETP is designed on the basis of: – Quality and flow rate of the wastewa...