Weather News: Following an intense wet spell across several parts of the country, minimum temperatures in northwest India, particularly Punjab, Haryana & Rajasthan are expected to drop by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius over the next two to three days, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).
IMD predicts intense rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy showers over the Western Himalayan area within next 48 hours and across the plains of northwest India during the next 24 hours. It further forecasted that heavy thunderstorm activity would persist across Central India from January 8 to 12, and over Eastern India from January 10 to 13.
"A western disturbance in the form of a cyclonic circulation exists over north Pakistan and its surroundings, with a trough (line of low pressure) aloft." At lower tropospheric levels, an induced cyclonic circulation is present over east Rajasthan and its surroundings. There is a strong moisture incursion from the Arabian Sea across northwest and adjoining central India, which is expected to last for the next two days.
The convergence of winds from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal at lower tropospheric levels is expected across central India during the next three to four days, according to the IMD's evening forecast bulletin on Saturday.
Widespread light to moderate rainfall or snowfall is expected throughout the Western Himalayan region till Monday, with a notable reduction thereafter. "On January 8-12th, isolated extremely heavy rain or snowfall is highly probable across Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad and Himachal Pradesh." Isolated heavy rain/snowfall is expected across Himachal Pradesh on January 9 and over Uttarakhand on January 8 and 9, according to the bulletin.
According to the IMD, widespread rainfall is expected to persist across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Western Uttar Pradesh till Sunday, when it will begin to reduce. "Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall is very likely over East Uttar Pradesh and West Madhya Pradesh on January 8 and 9, over East Madhya Pradesh from January 8 to 12, over Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh from January 10 to 12, over Vidarbha from January 9 to 12, and over Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal from January 11 to 12," the weather bureau said in the bulletin.
A minor drop in minimum temperatures is expected over Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan during the next 24 hours, followed by a quick drop of 4-6 degrees C over the next 2-3 days and no notable change thereafter. "No substantial change in minimum temperatures is quite probable over Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh over the next 2-3 days, and temperatures will decline by 2-4 degrees Celsius over the next three days," the IMD said.