Weather News: As temperatures in North India rise temporarily this week, a meteorological expert predicts that January 2023 will still go down in history as the coldest for the area, with temperatures in the plains dropping as low as -4 degrees Celsius next week.
Severe chills are expected between January 14 and 19, with a peak from January 16 to 18, according to Navdeep Dahiya, the founder of the online meteorological platform Live Weather of India.
While mild rain in the national capital may provide some relief from the extreme cold for a few days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also stated that cold wave conditions are quite possible in isolated areas across Delhi and its neighboring states beginning Saturday.
While he hedged his predictions, saying there may be some changes in the outcome with three days to go and fog playing a critical part, the weatherman warned of single-digit maximum temperatures and "frosty mornings" or "cold blast" days.
"Also, keep in mind that this is a historic run in 11 days of January, and the following few days look incredibly cold, #January 2023 might be historically coldest - maybe for the 21st century so far?" Mr Dahiya took to Twitter.
After many weeks of bone-chilling evenings, the IMD forecast only short relief from the excruciating cold this week for the people of Northwest India.
Until Friday, an active western disturbance was forecast to cause a 2-4 degree Celsius rise in low temperatures over the northwestern plains. However, it warned of another surge of extreme cold in the national capital following that.
The lowest temperature in Delhi was 9.3 degrees Celsius on Thursday, two notches above the season's normal, only days after the city had its third-worst cold wave in 23 years. According to the IMD, the highest temperature will be approximately 19 degrees Celsius.
"A similar situation occurred in 2006 when the lowest temperature was 1.9 degrees Celsius. There was a comparable cold period in 2013 "RK Jenamani, an IMD weather specialist, stated.
Jenamani said that drizzle and light rain will occur across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, and North Rajasthan during the following four days.
He went on to say, "On January 12, severe rain or snowfall is possible in Himalayan states, including Jammu and Kashmir, and especially in Kashmir. Between January 11 and 14, Himachal and Uttarakhand may have rain or snowfall.”
