Skymet weather

Kolkata weather is perfect to play test cricket

New Delhi, With northerly to northwesterly winds penetrating with a speed of 12 to 15 kmph, minimum temperature is expected to drop marginally, the weather will turn perfect to play test cricket at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The venue is going to host the third test match between India and England.

  • Temperatures: As the night temperatures are expected to fall marginally to 12 or 13°C during the next few days, it will be cool start for the morning session. The day will be sunny when the maximum temperatures would rise to 27-28 °C and will remain stable during the next five days starting from December 5.

  • Sky: As of today, the sky is partly cloudy but it will become mainly clear from tomorrow onwards to become clear thereafter for the next two days. Some clouds may appear during the last two days of the match.

  • Humidity: Humidity level is expected to be around 40% throughout the match.

  • Winds: Northerly to northwesterly wind speed could slow down during the last two days of the match. Wind could blow at a speed of 5 to 10 kmph.

  • Comfort Level: Spectators as well as players could really relish such a fantastic weather to play and watch cricket.

Cold winds to continue over north; rain likely to increase in south

New Delhi, The chill in the winds over northern parts of the country would continue during the next two to three days. Open skies will keep the maximum temperatures below normal over northwest plains. Rains that lashed coastal Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will continue during the next 48 hours.

North India is expected to continue with the chilly winds as snow is melting at the areas which received snowfall during the stay of the Western Disturbance recently. The below normal minimum temperatures would remain stable but due to open skies the maximum has also turned below normal. The maximum temperatures were below normal by 2 to 3°C in the northwest plains over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh.

In the Indo-Gangetic plains, the dry and cool conditions will continue and the temperatures which are below normal would be stable during the next 48 hours. The plains would continue to receive cold northerly to northwesterly winds during this period

The weather conditions over northwest India are expected to change after the arrival of another Western Disturbance over Jammu & Kashmir on December 7. Temperatures will rise a bit to give some comfort to people who are reeling under icy winds and low temperatures, especially during the morning and evening hours.

In the south, the low pressure area, which was expected to become a well-marked zone has now evolved as a cyclonic circulation that lies over southwest Bay of Bengal. Under its aegis, rain will continue over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These areas along with Rayalaseema and Kerala will receive rain at a few places during the next 48 hours. Rain is also expected at one or two places over south interior Karnataka and Telangana during this period.

 A trough of low pressure area extending from southeast Bay of Bengal to east-central Bay of Bengal persists. This will give rain at a few places over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands during the next couple of days.

 

2012, a year hit by weather extremes

The year 2012 was characterized by extreme weather around the world, with some parts of the northern hemisphere hit by multiple extraordinary events between January and October 2012.

They include heat waves in March to May across the US and Europe, and drought that affected nearly two-thirds of the continental US as well as parts of Russia, some Mediterranean countries, China and northern Brazil.

In the UK, one of the hottest, driest March’s on record gave way to the wettest summer in a century, which has caused a series of floods across the country.

The years 2001 to 2011 were all among the warmest on record, and this year looks set to be no exception. This year is on track to be the ninth warmest in records dating back till 1850, with the global temperatures around 0.45°C above the long-term average, based on figures up to October.

After the La Nina weather pattern ended in the Pacific, global land and ocean temperatures rose increasingly above the long-term average, and the six months from May to October were among the four warmest such periods on record.

 

 

Extended winter unlikely this year

New Delhi, Last year, due to LA NINA (a weather pattern that has a cooling effect on temperatures) winter in India continued up to March and the temperatures were below normal even during April. But, such an extended winter period and low temperatures are unlikely this season in April 2013.

Due to a weak LA NINA this year, the temperatures would not cool down as much as they should and the winter snow will melt faster than last year when cool winds prevailed even during April. It’s the opposite that had happened last year when a strong LA NINA kept the temperature cool enough to slow down the melting of winter snow. The slow melting of snow made cool winds continue in April.

Snowfall and rain would also be less this winter as a lesser frequency of Western Disturbance is expected. There will not be much winter snow compared to last year and it would not take such a long period to melt. A Western Disturbance brings rain or snow and cloudiness over northern India during winters.

Rain likely to continue over south; over north, marginal fall in night temperatures expected

New Delhi, Rain is expected to continue over south Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu during the next few days. Rain would be light to moderate over the region. A further drop in the night temperature by 1 to 2°C is expected over Punjab and Haryana during the next 24 hours. Cool and dry weather conditions would also continue over Gangetic plains during the next two days.

The low pressure area over central parts of the south Bay of Bengal is expected to become well-marked during the next 48 hours. It would push rain towards the east coast over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, south interior Karnataka and Kerala during the next 24 hours. Rain would increase thereafter over these regions.

Moderate rain could be experienced at one or two places in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and south coastal Andhra Pradesh. Isolated rain is expected in the interiors of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala during the next 24 hours. Rain would decrease over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands after the next 48 hours but many places will witness rain during these time.

Snowfall and rain has reduced significantly after the exit of the Western Disturbance but another Western Disturbance, though a feeble one, is expected over Jammu & Kashmir during the next the next 24 to 48 hours. The latest Western Disturbance now lies over north Pakistan and is moving eastwards.

The northwesterly winds are expected to affect northwest plains more, compared to the Gangetic plains, as these winds are becoming northeasterly after reaching the region. Punjab and Haryana are likely to witness another drop of 2°C in the night temperatures during the next two days. Jalandhar in Punjab recorded coldest day in the northwest plains with a minimum of 3.1°C while Hisar in Haryana recorded a minimum of 4°C during the last 24 hours.

However, dry and cool conditions would continue over Gangetic plains and central India as northerly to northeasterly winds will prevail. The temperatures are expected to remain stable during the next two days.

Winter Music, Play on!

Winters bring about the coldest time of the year. It is not only the best time for travelers to adventure across the globe but also the favorite time for people to celebrate festivals and holidays!

In December, when Christmas is round the corner and the festivities are in full swing, music is an essential part of adding to the cheer! Christmas carols become a rage around this time even among those that don't necessarily celebrate this festival. In fact, during this time, it is music that brings people of all religions and cultures together to celebrate the winter months.

Be it a Christmas bash, a winter ball dance at schools and colleges, or just a cozy winter party at home with friends and family, music can make every occasion memorable. Even an official evening out with colleagues or a business party can not be complete without a winter score in the background. These songs therefore represent the time of the year when people bundle up for outdoor fun or unwind in front of a cozy fireplace.

If you are one of those that prefer listening to the traditional, classic genre of winter music, some scores to select from are:

  • “Winter Wonderland” - Johnny Mathis
  • “Sleigh Ride” - Boston Pops
  • “Baby it’s cold outside”- Dean Martin
  • “Winter Romance”- Dean Martin

If you prefer more pop, rock and funk sort of music during a winter theme party or while traveling, some of these songs could help you groove and make your cold days memorable:

  • “ Early Winter” - Gwen Stefani
  • “Winter Time” - Steve Miller Band
  • “Winter”- Rolling Stones
  • “A Winter’s Tale” - Queen
  • “Winter”- Tori Amos
  • “Hazy Shade of Winter”- Simon and Garfunkel
  • “First snow on Brooklyn” – Jethro tull

While winters bring snow in many areas, some others don't see any flakes at all. But hey! there is no reason for you to be sad if it doesn’t snow in your city. Listening to songs on snow can help you pretend for a bit that you are surrounded by these beautiful white, fluffy flakes. Do not forget to include these snowfall melodies to the list!

  • “Snowflakes” - Jim Reeves
  • “Snowbound” - Genesis
  • “Snowbird” - Anna Murray
  • “Let it Snow” - Frank Sinatra
  • “Snow come down” - Lori Carson
  • “15 feet of Pure White Snow” – Nick Cave and Bad Seeds

Winter music is like a refuge that can help one crawl into the space between the notes and curl back into loneliness and bliss! So play on, on and on!

 

Winters can take away your sleep!

New Delhi, Winter has kicked off around the country with not that unusual a start and people will begin to feel the biting cold soon enough, i.e. in the first few days of the December month. But what’s unusual is that the season linked to hibernation, has a strange way of keeping us up all night long. So here’s what we suggest:

Cold cold flu- We all love to snuggle up all day in our cozy quilts when the weather is icy outside but the want to keep sleeping increases all the more when the annoying cold hits us and we are too stuffed up to even breathe properly. We suggest using a steam inhaler to keep the nasal passage clear and sleeping with your head elevated for easy breathing. Using home remedies like honey or Amla(Indian Gooseberry) also helps in getting rid of the stubborn cold as it increases the body immunity.

Room temperature- Cranking up the heat in your room may seem like a nice way to spend a lazy day at home but little do we realize that it could wreak havoc on our sleep. As we sleep, the body adjusts itself according to the room temperature and therefore lowering the body temperature just a little bit in a cooler room can make us get that perfect winter sleep. Thus having a big comforter is not that great an idea. Pile up light layers in bed so you can remove them if it becomes too warm. While the exact thermostat is a matter of personal comfort, the optimal temperature ranges from 68 to 72 degrees. Also remember, similar to how a very warm room can keep you awake, a room too cold isn’t conducive for sleep either.

Show the light- Light, our source of life is extremely essential. Without it we feel lethargic all day and so at bedtime the body does not feel like it needs sleep. Go out and soak the winter sun as much as possible to stay healthier.

Carefully overeat- Eating a hardy meal can nicely warm you from the inside out during those cold winter months. While eating in the afternoon can make you feel sleepy at work, eating at night will keep you up. The logic lies with the body requiring more time to digest a much heavier meal and till the time it doesn’t happen it doesn’t let you sleep. Having a light meal for dinner, 4 to 5 hours before sleeping time will not only help you get a goodnight sleep but will also keep you in shape. A warm glass of water can be had after a heavy afternoon meal to avoid feeling sluggish and drowsy.

Oversleep on weekends- The cold dreary days have their own special way of making us want to sleep till the afternoon hours on weekends since that’s the only time we can compensate for the less sleep during weekdays. Unfortunately, though, altering too much sleep during Saturday and Sunday can set you up for a bad sleep pattern during the weekdays. Recapturing your sleep is great but try not to alter your wake time and bedtime by more than an hour or two.

The best cure of insomnia is to get a lot of sleep!  So sleep a lot when days are shorter and the cold weather is giving you the chills, but don’t forget these points or the winter will kill your sleep!

Deficient winter monsoon in Kerala

New Delhi, With southern districts of Kerala registering a huge rainfall deficit up till November 21, the northeast monsoon in the state is scanty by -31% this year. Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha have registered a huge rainfall deficit of -32%, -44% and -48% respectively since the onset of northeast monsoon from October. Only three districts, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Kozhikodev have had normal rainfall while the remaining districts have recorded scanty rainfall this year.

Some of the districts showed large deficits, led by Pathanamthitta (-51%), Malappuram (-48%), Kollam (-44%) and Kasaragod (-43%). Since cyclone Nilam hit the Chennai coast, there has not been any rain since.
The northeast monsoon is expected to revive by around Dec 4. But this will pertain to Chennai region. It is not likely to benefit Kerala. There could be some rainy days for the southern districts of Kerala but , however, there is no likelihood of northern Kerala getting any major rainfall in December.

Record minimum temperatures in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi, With the minimum temperature dipping to 5.2 degrees at Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh and the capital, Lucknow recording the coldest November day in 15 years, the state is gripped by the cold wave this year.

The minimum temperature at Lucknow was 4 degrees below normal at 7.1 degrees on November 28 and it is coldest November day in the last 15 years. The state is shivering under cold conditions since October when the minimum temperatures throughout the month remained below normal by 1 to 4 degrees and hence the month became coldest in a decade or so.

A similar trend continues during November when minimum temperatures are below normal within the same range. Other places in the state also recorded below normal temperatures during the last 24 hours. The minimum temperature was 7.5 degrees Celsius at Kanpur, four degrees below normal, Allahabad recorded 10 degrees Celsius and Varanasi; 10.1 degrees Celsius.

Beside Najibabad, the coldest district in the state was Muzaffarnagar with minimum temperature 6.1 degrees Celsius followed by Rae Bareli with 6.8 degrees Celsius. Minimum temperature in Agra was 7.6 degrees Celsius and Fatehgarh 7.8 degrees Celsius.

The cold conditions are being attributed to the northerly dry and cool winds penetrating the plains. The minimum goes further down when these winds carry the chill from melting snows after the exit of Western Disturbance to push them in the region. The other reason of the cold weather is that the Western Disturbance does not affect the Indo-Gangetic plains as it does the northwest plains.

The Western Disturbance (moist and warm winds originating in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Sea) usually remains in mid-tropospheric level while northerly blows under them in the lower levels. So, the Western Disturbance fails to restrict northerly winds from reaching these plains as it does in the northwest plain, which is at a much higher Sea level.

So, as the Western Disturbance would pass during the next 48 hours, the northerly winds could bring colder winds to keep the minimum temperatures below normal over Uttar Pradesh during the next week as well.

Heavy rain snowfall likely in J&K, HP; Andaman Islands continue to receive heavy showers

New Delhi, Heavy rain and snowfall are expected at one or two places in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh during the next 48 hours. Rain or thundershower could also occur over northwest plains in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh during the next couple of days.

The Western Disturbance lies over Jammu & Kashmir and neighborhood. The presence of this weather system in the region would make the rain and snow continue during the next 48 hours. Many places in Jammu & Kashmir are expected to receive snowfall wherein one or two places could even receive heavy snow or rain.

Rain and snow would also commence at a few places over Himachal Pradesh and chances of heavy snowfall or rain at one or two places cannot be ruled out during the next 48 hours. The rainfall over Himachal Pradesh would boost the soil conditions in the area for growing wheat.

Similar but less severe weather conditions are expected over higher hills of Uttarakhand where one or two places would receive rain or snow during the next 48 hours. But heavy rain or snow is not expected in Uttarakhand during this period.

Northwest plains are expected with rain or thundershowers during the next 48 hours. The sky will be partly cloudy to mainly clear over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh. The minimum temperature would also be stable during this period at these places. A fall of 2 to 3 degrees is expected after the Western Disturbance would decamp the region.

The erstwhile Western Disturbance, which moved out of Jammu & Kashmir recently while moving in a eastward direction is now passing through the northeastern states and it is expected to give rain over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam at one or two places during the next 24 hours.

In the Bay of Bengal, the low pressure area is persisting over the Andaman Sea and is expected to become a well-marked low pressure zone during the next 48 hours. Rain would continue on the islands for the next two days. In the southern Peninsula, rain would reduce over Tamil Nadu and Kerala due to the absence of this weather system but one or two places would receive light rain during the next 24 hours.

Melting ice in the Arctic Sea could worsen carbon emission crisis

The United Nations (UN) has given a stark warning to the governments of the world about the threat emerging from melting of Permafrost (frozen organic matter) in the Arctic Sea. Thawing permafrost releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, but this has not yet been included in models of the future climate.

Permafrost covers nearly a quarter of the northern hemisphere at present and is estimated to contain 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon – twice the amount currently in the atmosphere. As it thaws, it could push global warming past one of the key "tipping points" that scientists believe could lead to runaway climate change.

The UN report says that Permafrost plays a key part in the planet's future because it contains large stores of frozen organic matter that, if thawed and released into the atmosphere, would amplify current global warming and propel us to a warmer world much sooner. Its potential impact on the climate, ecosystems and infrastructure has been neglected for too long.

As temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than elsewhere, this could increase the danger of permafrost melting. Warming permafrost could emit 43 to 135 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide by 2100 and 246 to 415 gigatonnes by 2200, and emissions could start within the next few decades. Permafrost emissions could ultimately account for up to 39% of total emissions, as per the report.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has asked the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the body of top climate scientists, to study the effect in detail. The IPCC provides governments with the up-to-date and most comprehensive knowledge on climate change.

Railway getting ready for foggy weather challenges

New Delhi, In anticipation of the fog towards the end of November and early December, the railways has sent advisories to all the zones to keep safety on the top priority this season. As visibility reduces by several meters during thick fog, trains run at a lower speed.

A vision test object (VTO) would be set up at the station to indicate fog. This VTO would be installed at least 180 meters from the starter signal of the station. And if the station superintendent fails to see the VTO clearly from the station, fog warning would be issued and advisories will be put in place immediately. A VTO can be fixed at any station.

 

During normal weather conditions, drivers can see a signal clearly at a distance of 300 meters but when  fog persists, the visibility reduces manifold, some times dropping to 10 to 20 meters. Since a driver cannot see a signal from a normal distance, the speed of trains has to be reduced from normal 100 kmph to 60 kmph. While the speed cannot exceed 60 kmph limit in such situations, it may be reduced to as low as 15 kmph for safety purposes, depending on the density of fog.

Despite fog severely affecting movement of trains every winter in Northern India, railways still lack technology to reduce its impact. Trains passing through stations along the rivers and hilly areas are the worst hit by fog. It is regular for some trains to run almost 24 hours behind schedule during winter.

Foggy conditions are expected in early December as by then the Western Disturbance persisting over Jammu & Kashmir will move away from the region, letting the cooler winds enter northern India. These winds would drop the minimum temperatures significantly to create foggy conditions during the first week of this December.







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