It’s not just north, northwest and the eastern parts of the country that have been feeling the wrath of the cold weather with temperatures being way below normal, the west coast of the country has been feeling the ‘cold wave’ too. The change in the climate in Maharashtra has forced the city people to pull out their winter wear and caps as the nights have become icy cold here as well.

The weather in Maharashtra is of a typical moderate nature where the temperatures stay in the higher twenties or thirties during the January month, which is the coldest month in the northern part of India. The weather in Mumbai particularly does at times suffer from the ‘cold wave’ due to lack of frequent ‘Western Disturbances’ as the temperatures drop and the direct flow of the freezing northwesterly winds make nights colder.

The weather in Mumbai on January 6th 2013 was quite cold as the temperature was recorded at 27.4⁰C maximum, which was 3⁰C below its normal figures, and the minimum temperature dropped to a whopping 11.3⁰C, 6⁰C below normal.  Weather forecasters at Skymet Weather say, “The last time the weather in Mumbai turned so cold was in 2008 when the minimum temperature was recorded at 10.2⁰C. This was the lowest in 45 years”.

However such climate in Maharashtra has not only brought changes in the weather of Mumbai, it has also affected the Nasik region adversely. The minimum temperature in Nasik on January 6th was recorded at a very cold 4⁰C while today; on January 7th it was recorded at 6.4⁰C. Agriculturists and Scientists at Skymet Weather inform that the grape crop could be badly affected due to this. This takes us back to the change in the climate in Maharashtra, witnessed last year too. Nasik recorded a minimum temperature of 3⁰C and the grapes crystallized due to exposure to the cold weather.

Mahesh Palawat, weather forecast at Skymet says, the ‘cold wave’ in Maharashtra is likely to continue for the next three to four days easily and the people of Mumbai and Nasik, particularly will have to rely on their winter clothes for the time being.” These changes in the climate of Maharashtra, affecting the weather of Mumbai, the ‘cold wave’ condition, and lowest minimum temperatures being recorded every year, with acres of crops being destroyed, points out that even though people have been noticing these changes, they still aren’t doing enough to help it. Being aggressively weather wise is the only solution for us now.

Photo by Enygmatic-Halycon.

If you belong to the eastern part of India, then the freezing temperatures these days must be making you highly uncomfortable and uneasy in the morning as Uttar Pradesh has set some astonishing temperature records in the New Year. The climate of India in the winter months in Uttar Pradesh does witness severe cold but this time the mercury dipped to a whopping 0.6⁰C at Hindon, on Friday, January 4th 2013 while the maximum temperature on Monday, January 7th dropped to 6.8⁰C (the lowest max temp in entire India). It was due to this that schools remain shut, office goers pulled out more sweaters and jackets, and workers too stopped to set up bon-fires to get some relief from the biting cold.

Piercing temperature that freeze you are typical characteristics of the climate of India during the months the December and January. Increased frequency of the ‘Western Disturbance’ accompanied by dense fog, rain and wind speed during these months often plummet the temperatures to new lows. Though head forecaster, Mahesh Palawat at Skymet says “the last month of the year 2012 though saw a warmer trend as the climate of India has changed in recent years, but weather in January 2013 has made up for it”.

Climate of India has often been in the news and a topic of discussion for all those researching on global warming and its effects, as new records are being set each day (late arrival of rain, stretched summer spell and delayed and warm winters), but the weather in 2013 in India has been particularly different because it was not just Uttar Pradesh, but also Delhi that recorded 1.9⁰C on January 6th, its lowest so far. Today, Churu in Rajasthan also recorded its lowest so far at 2.7⁰C. Hisar in Haryana on the other hand recorded -1.1⁰C on January 6th. As cold day conditions prevail, maximum temperatures have witnessed a fall of 6 to 9⁰C and 5 to 7⁰C lower than the normal in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi respectively. The normal maximum temperature of both the above states hovers around 21⁰C in the month of January.

But the weather gods haven’t just stopped at that, they have decided to pour in some dense fog too, in UP, Delhi, Haryana and Bihar to disrupt the daily life of people. And it is this severe cold that has already claimed more than 100 lives in Uttar Pradesh itself.

Weather forecast at Skymet predicts a similar pattern in the climate of India till mid-January, thereafter the weather in Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas will become tolerable.

Photo by Ashok666.

Head of the forecasting team at Skymet Weather, Mahesh Palawat informs that the “cold wave situation in Delhi and adjoining areas of north and northwest India will continue to have temperatures hovering around 0⁰C to 3⁰C for the next four days at the least, because of the direct icy flow of the northerly or northwesterly winds from the hills.”

On January 6^th 2013, the temperature in Delhi was recorded as the lowest of the season at 1.9⁰C. Whereas, Hisar recorded -1.1⁰C along with Agra at 0.5⁰C. On Friday, January 4^th 2013, Hindon at Uttarpradesh had recorded 0.6⁰C and Delhi recorded 2.7⁰C.

“These ever dropping temperatures are because of the less in number and the weak Western Disturbance in the month of January, which help in raising the temperatures as they approach”, adds Mahesh Palawat. This therefore has led to minimum and maximum temperatures being below normal in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab by 5⁰C to 6⁰C and 6⁰C to 12⁰C respectively. Seeing such low temperatures, weather forecasters also point out at possibility of frost in the above mentioned states.

Planning to see the myriad colors of India? You need to visit Rajasthan - the most colorful and culturally diverse state of the country. Rajasthan is also known for it’s extreme weather conditions such as the scorching summers and frightfully cold winters. Despite the harsh cold, however, the winter season enjoys an unbeatable number of tourists and travelers who flock to the desert to experience the glorious beauty of Rajasthan and of course – to beat the heat!

Winter weather in Rajasthan extends from December to March with January being the coldest month of the year. Temperature varies throughout the state and the lowest temperature recorded is 0⁰C - or even below 0⁰C sometimes. Slight rainfall in the north and north eastern region of the state is often experienced in the winter months due to the effect of the Western Disturbance. Winter weather in Rajasthan means biting cold and average temperature ranging from 8⁰C to 28⁰C.

But if you love the winters, thoroughly enjoy the icy cold weather, and are planning to do so by visiting only Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Pushkar in Rajasthan - think again! Temperatures in these parts of Rajasthan is no doubt very cold during the winters but places like Churu, Bikaner, Ganganagar and Pilani, that lie in the north, northwest part of Rajasthan often record below zero temperatures and are also less crowded as they are less known. Therefore, traveling to these parts might be a better idea if you’re looking for a peaceful winter vacation.

In 2011, while Jaisalmer recorded 1⁰C, Bikaner recorded -2⁰C. Jaisalmer’s 2012 average temperature was between 3⁰C - 4⁰C and Churu and Pilani repeatedly saw temperatures hovering around 2⁰C -3⁰C. Thursday, January 3rd 2013 recorded 0.4⁰C in Bikaner. If these figures are not enough, here are some more reasons to travel to the less traveled Bikaner, Pilani and Churu and make the most of the winter weather in Rajasthan:

a) Don’t forget to attend the ‘Camel Festival’ in Bikaner, held in the month of January. It’s an elaborate affair accompanied by folk dancers and singers of Rajasthan.

b) The Karni Mata temple in Bikaner is not just an auspicious Jain pilgrim site but is home to thousands of rats living here. Spotting a white rat among them is considered lucky.

c) Camp at the Churu to visit the wildlife sanctuary here and spot the endangered black buck. A visit to the empty deserted land of Churu is the perfect way to enjoy the weather of Rajasthan.

d) The entire Rajasthan is famous for it’s grand havelis but nothing like the ones that still stand tall on a quiet hill in an even quieter village of khetri in Pilani. Khetri fort is the perfect example of this.

Photo by Christopher.

Wednesday, January 2^nd, was a memorable day in Delhi’s weather history as the temperature hovered around 8⁰C throughout the day. Forecasters at Skymet weather say that day temperatures have never been this low. In fact, this lowest a maximum was recorded more than four decades ago. So as people stayed glued to news channels and newspapers to get latest updates on the weather in Delhi, many queries about the Delhi weather in January were also raised by travelers and weather enthusiasts. We have, therefore, tried to jot down for our followers and readers, a forecast for Delhi weather in January 2013. Here it goes:

January is coldest month of the year for Delhi when freezing temperatures are common. But the rapid change in the global weather patterns, and December 2012 temperatures being recorded as the warmest in years had concerned many and led us to believe that the winter season will hardly be cold this time. The weather in Delhi in January 2013 was expected to be warmer than usual too. However, it’s been quite the opposite as the New Year began on an icy note (lower than the minimum temperature of January 2^nd 2012) and brought back the winter cheer. Head of the forecasting team at Skymet, Mahesh Palawat says, “This good news of extremely cold weather in Delhi will prevail till mid-January and such cold conditions may persist in other parts of north, northwest India too.”

As compared to the January 2012, the winter weather in Delhi in 2013 will be colder and temperatures will be below normal due to feeble and less number of ‘Western Disturbances’ that generally help the mercury rise as it prevails. On the other hand, the wind pattern too shall not change from northwesterly to southwesterly (the latter wind being humid, increases the temperature) and thus the direct flow of the former will make both the day and night temperatures stay below normal. For the last week of January, the Delhi weather could improve and be pretty close to it’s normal figures as the wind pattern may change gradually.

As this news is not entirely happy and comforting for Ramu Singh and the 78 million other homeless in India, who sleep under flyovers and suffer due to the cold weather each year, nonprofit organizations and state bodies have geared up to overcome the expected rise in death toll due to the cold this January. Police records show 6,861 homeless deaths were reported from 2007 to 2011 due to the harsh Delhi weather.

Photo by Ahron de Leeuw.