Icy winds swept through the mid and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh, causing a sharp fall in the day temperatures.
Parts of Delhi and Haryana braced for light to moderate rainfall along with gusty winds on Wednesday morning. (File photo)
By India Today News Desk: While parts of Delhi and Haryana experienced light to moderate rainfall accompanied by gusty winds, icy winds swept through the mid and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh, causing a sharp fall in the day’s temperatures on Wednesday.
The Met Office predicted light to moderate rainfall to occur over Delhi and its adjoining areas, including a few places in NCR (Hindon AF Station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram), Karnal, Meham, Rohtak, Bhiwani (Haryana) Hastinapur, Chandpur, Amroha (UP) on Wednesday morning.
‘YELLOW’ WARNING FOR HIMACHAL
The local meteorological department has issued a yellow warning of heavy rain or snowfall at isolated places in the mid and high hills of Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Lahul and Spiti districts on Wednesday, and thunderstorm and lightning in the low and middle hills on March 2 and 4.
The department also cautioned people to take adequate drainage measures to avoid water stagnation in the fields. It asked people to take measures to protect saplings and standing crops.
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Light snow was witnessed in a few parts. Kalpa received 1.5 cm of snowfall, followed by Keylong and Kukumseri with 0.5 cm each, while traces were reported in a few parts of the upper Shimla region.
The maximum day temperatures plummeted, and Chamba and Dalhousie recorded a high of 17.1 degrees Celsius and 8.5 degrees Celsius, down by eight and 6.1 degrees respectively. The maximum temperature dropped by 8.4 degrees to settle at 23.8 degrees Celsius in Una.
As many as 73 roads were closed for vehicular traffic.
The state received 117 mm of rainfall, against a normal of 187.1 mm, a deficit of 37 per cent, during the winter season from January 1 to February 28.
Fearing a draught-like situation, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena on Monday asked the departments to draw up a strategy in the wake of the dry climate.
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INDIA SEES WARMEST FEBRUARY THIS YEAR SINCE 1877: IMD
India reported the warmest February this year since 1877 with average maximum temperatures touching 29.54 degrees celsius, the weather office said on Tuesday while linking it with global warming.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said most parts of the country are expected to experience above-normal temperatures while the southern peninsula and parts of Maharashtra are likely to escape the brunt of harsh weather conditions.
Addressing a virtual press conference, SC Bhan, the Head of the Hydromet and Agromet Advisory Services of IMD said there was little probability of heat waves in March, but most parts of the country could experience extreme weather conditions in April and May.
The monthly average maximum temperature for February was the highest since 1877, Bhan told reporters in response to a question, linking the rising trend to the phenomenon of global warming.
“The entire globe is living in an era of global warming. We are living in a warming world,” Bhan said when asked whether the high temperatures were an indication of climate change.
The monthly average minimum temperature in India was the fifth highest during this February since 1901.
The rainfall average over the country is most likely to be normal (83-117 per cent of long period average) in March, Bhan said. The LPA of rainfall over the country as a whole during March based on data from 1971-2020 is about 29.9 mm.
He said below-normal rainfall was expected over most areas of northwest India, west-central India and some parts of east and northeast India.
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WEATHER FORECAST
The Met Office said a cyclonic circulation over east Afghanistan is likely to cause light to moderate scattered to widespread rainfall or snowfall with isolated thunderstorms and lightning over the western Himalayan region till March 2.
The IMD said light isolated to scattered rainfall with isolated thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds is also likely over Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh till March 2 and over West Rajasthan and over east Rajasthan on March 1.
It also predicted isolated heavy rainfall or snowfall over the Kashmir Valley and Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
Further, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are also likely to witness lightning and thunderstorms today.
Meanwhile, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh will likely experience scattered rainfall in the next four days.
The weather office said a fresh western disturbance is likely to cause light isolated to scattered rainfall or snowfall over the western Himalayan region on March 4 and 5.
