Getting the chills yet? Intense winter in store; IMD says cold wave days to double in north, central India

New Delhi: A chilling winter is ahead for almost the entire central India stretching up to north interior Karnataka and parts of north west India where the temperature will not only drop substantially, but the number of cold wave days will also double between December and February, the India Meteorological Department said here on Monday.

The met agency said India would be experiencing a colder-than-usual winter as the number of cold wave days will double for central and north western states while for north interior Karnataka, the minimum and maximum temperature will be below normal.

“Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra may experience 4-5 extra cold wave days between December and February in addition to 4-6 cold wave days they face every year on an average in these three months,” IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.

This year, winter has set in early with the season's first cold wave conditions occurring in pockets of north-east Rajasthan, south Haryana, north Madhya Pradesh, south Uttar Pradesh and north Chhattisgarh, between Nov 8-18, and in north interior Maharashtra between Nov 15-20.

Mohapatra said even though the Himalayas were largely shielding India from the polar vortex, it has a small role in the early onset of winter.

Another cold wave spell was expected in parts of northwest and central India from December 3 to 5, he said.

According to the IMD, a cold wave is declared when the temperature departure from normal is minus 4.5 to 6.4 degrees Celsius. If the departure is more than minus 6.4 degrees Celsius, it's described as a severe cold wave.

Cold wave is also declared when the minimum temperature dips below four degrees Celsius in the plains for two consecutive days. A dip below two degrees Celsius will be a severe cold wave.

The IMD chief said weak La Nina conditions were expected to continue between December and February.

La Nina refers to the large-scale cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, coupled with changes in tropical atmospheric circulation such as winds, pressure and rainfall.

It is generally associated with intense and prolonged rains in the monsoon season in India and colder-than-usual winters, particularly in northern regions.

Most parts of India, except for southeast peninsular India, the northeastern states and extreme northwest, recorded normal to below-normal temperatures in November.