The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that several regions across the country will continue to experience intense cold wave conditions over the coming days. Concurrently, the weather agency has issued alerts for rainfall and snowfall in specific areas, painting a picture of diverse and challenging weather patterns affecting millions.
Persistent Cold Wave and Fog in North India
The severe cold wave sweeping across the national capital, Delhi, and its neighbouring regions is expected to persist. The IMD has forecast cloudy and foggy conditions for Delhi until Wednesday. A significant drop in minimum temperatures, ranging from 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, is predicted over northwest India during the next four days, with stable conditions likely thereafter.
Cold day conditions are anticipated in several states on specific dates:
- January 6 and 7: Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.
- January 8 to 11: Rajasthan.
- January 7 and 8: Madhya Pradesh.
- January 6 to 8: Vidarbha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.
Dense fog is very likely at isolated places in multiple regions including Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, and west Uttar Pradesh.
Snowfall in Himalayas and Rain in the South
The IMD has predicted snowfall over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on Tuesday. Reflecting this, a thin layer of fog enveloped Srinagar on Tuesday morning as cold conditions tightened their grip on the Kashmir Valley.
In contrast, southern India is bracing for wet weather. Light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning is likely over Tamil Nadu on January 8 and 9. Furthermore, heavy rainfall is expected at isolated locations across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Mahe on January 9 and 10.
State-Specific Alerts and Temperature Plunge
Jharkhand is under a cold wave alert after the mercury plunged below 10 degrees Celsius in ten districts on Tuesday. The IMD has issued a ‘yellow’ alert for districts including Garhwa, Palamu, Latehar, Lohardaga, Gumla, and Chatra, with conditions expected to last until January 7.
During the 24-hour period ending at 8:30 am on Tuesday, Gumla recorded the state's lowest temperature at a chilling 2.2 degrees Celsius. This was followed by Khunti at 3.7°C and Lohardaga at 3.9°C.
Explaining the sudden temperature drop, Abhishek Anand, Deputy Director at the Ranchi Meteorological Centre, attributed it to "the western disturbance winds prevailing in the lower tropospheric levels."
For central and eastern India, a similar fall of 2–3°C in minimum temperatures is forecast over the next two days, followed by a period of stable conditions for about five days. No major change in night temperatures is expected in the rest of the country.
