2014 winter likely to be less cold than usual: IMD

With temperatures in the months of October and November staying more or less above normal levels, the winter this year in the country may not be a severe one, the MeT department today said.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has also recorded this year's October as being one of the warmest as compared to the normal temperature levels for the month.

"Temperatures have been above normal for October and November. Based on the climatic models, it appears the winter will not be that severe this year as it usually is.

"This year's October was one of the warmest. The warmest October was in 2010, followed by 2000, then 2005 and now 2014. We are still analysing the figures for November," said IMD Director BP Yadav.

The mean temperature across almost all weather stations in the country was 0.6 degrees Celsius higher than the normal for October. November, too, was warmer than usual.

But the chill could again be felt from tomorrow as the temperature is expected to drop, Yadav said even as he noted that it would be just a "temporary phase". He added that regional variations can also affect the temperature.

Minimum and maximum temperatures would fall by 2-3 degrees over the plains of northwest India, Gujarat and north Madhya Pradesh in the coming 48 hours. Shallow fog in the morning would occur at isolated pockets in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and western UP over the next two days.

In Delhi, the day temperature is going to hover between 28-29 degrees while the minimum may dip to settle in the 9-11 degree-range in the coming week, IMD said.