Skymet weather

Gear up for winter driving

New Delhi, Even before the chilly winter could set in, haze and smog have enveloped Delhi in the last few days, while fog still continues in the early morning hours and visibility goes down to 400 meters. Traffic police department records show more than 500 road accidents in 2011 where almost 200 people lost their lives. To combat this situation, every year the traffic police department gears up to create awareness amongst the motorist about safe driving and precautions to take during foggy conditions but it seems like road hogs fail to follow them, especially in the perilous foggy months. This underscores just how dangerous winter driving can be.

November to March are seen to be the busiest months for road travel and highways are packed with holiday vacationers and foreign tourists even when the temperatures plunge and driving can be challenging. So next time you hit the road during adverse weather, consider these top safety tips to follow during your journey.

Slow down- This, always becomes your thumb rule on the road. Slowdown and reduce speed by 50% during a foggy night or early morning hours. If you are at a snowy destination, do not drive too slowly because your car needs momentum to drive through the snow. Keep a light touch on the controls as a smooth operation is the key to be safe on a slippery road. Avoid driving on roads where snow is melting.

Don’t forget the tires- You don’t forget to get your car serviced before a road trip but often forget to turn your attention to the tires. Cold weather reduces tire pressure, thus increasing the risk of accidents. Special snow tires can outperform any regular weather tires. Fog lights for your vehicles can help you in very low visibility conditions but switching them off when visibility has improved should not be forgotten as they dazzle other road users and could obscure your break lights.

Stop frequently - Winter driving can be way more fatiguing than the scorching summer, so stop every two hours for five to ten minutes to improve alertness and clean your windscreen of the fog, manually, both from the outside and inside.

Know your route and weather- Be weather wise and know the current weather development of your city or the city you are traveling to. Just keeping a map and knowing your route on a bad weather night is not enough, find out the road condition hotline numbers and call them up for any probable road closures ahead. They could also help you give info on the nearest fuel pump if you’re low on fuel.

“Every mile is two in winter”, therefore whether you head out for pleasure or work, knowledge, precaution and preparation will keep you guarded and buttoned in an inimical setting.

Weather forces EC to airlift EVMs, change counting location in HP

New Delhi, Suspecting loss of election data due to extreme conditions from Lahaul-Spiti district to Bhuntar town in Kullu district, the Election Commission has airlifted 89 electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The low temperatures may have affected the functioning of EVMs as the temperature in Keylong, where they were kept, has already dipped below freezing point. Keylong recorded the minimum of -1.1 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, which is expected to dip much further down to -15 degrees Celsius by 20 December, the date slated for counting votes. So, along with EVM airlifting, the site for vote counting has also been changed to Bhuntar instead of Keylong.

The minimum temperature would be below zero by several degrees. There was concern that in such climatic conditions, EVMs would not work properly or could lose the battery charge. In 2007 elections too, counting of votes had taken place outside the district for the same reason.

Unseasonal rain likely to affect near harvest crops

New Delhi, The delayed monsoon made sure that farmers in Jharkhand could not crop paddy on more than 50-60 percent of their regular paddy area and in many places cropping was less than 30 per cent. Nature once gain played spoilsport when harvest was to begin.

Cyclone associated rains brought unseasonal showers over the eastcentral part of the country including Jharkhand which is expected to loose 15-20 percent of the standing paddy in the fields. The heavy rains in the last few days will have adverse impact on standing paddy crop, especially those which were to be harvested within next few days. Rain has also affected the vegetable crops. The plants that were recently germinated have been harmed by this unseasonal rain.

Cyclonic rain has also affected early sown paddy crops in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. East and West Godavari districts have been most affected. In upper Godavari, farmers have sown cotton instead of paddy due to delayed monsoon. But, the recent rain is expected to hit the cotton crops at a time when flowers in the crops have started blooming.

Good news for the farmers is that rain is expected to stop during the next 24 hours as the cyclonic formation is over. The sky will become clear at most places after this period.

Minimum Support Price (MSP) of the winter crop

New Delhi, The minimum support price for winter crops decided every year by the government was announced in the first week of November this year. It stated a hike in the support price from the next fiscal year, for four essential Rabi crops – mustard, masur, safflower and gram. The MSP of barley remained at the last year’s review price (Rs. 980 per quintal) in the revised chart. The government says this has been done due to a lavish oversupply of food grains in the market and they, thus want to shift focus to oil seeds and pulses now.

However, the decision on the MSP of the pivotal winter crop, wheat, has not been taken yet due to a consensus issue between the food and agricultural ministers. Officials dismissed it saying the latter needed more discussion and consultation. But if we go by the logic given for the barley crop and its “excessive supply”, wheat should also see no change in the MSP rate and stick to the last year’s review price.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved raising the minimum support price of masur to Rs. 2,900 per quintal and gram to Rs. 3,000 per quintal for 2013-14(April-March). This is one thousand rupees more for masur and two thousand rupees more for gram, as compared to the numbers decided by the committee in 2011-12. The MSP of oil seeds however saw a good increase as per the recommendations from the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices. Mustard and safflower rose to Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 2,800 respectively, both up from 2,500 per quintal in the review period. Officials say all these prices have been decided keeping in mind the rising inflation and other issues.

Tips to deal with winter sickness

New Delhi, The change in weather or the season caught many of us unaware. It's quite simple to gear up for such change. All you need to do is gain a simple understanding of the change in wind type, temperature and rainfall. Falling sick during this period is called 'weather transition sickness'. It's winters again and here are some tips that can save you from winter related illness'.

 

  • Running or stuffed nose – one of the most common winter ailment due to dip in the temperatures, pack your pockets with tissue to deal with the running nose

 

  • Blow your nose gently and regularly - in order to get rid of excessive mucus or you can also inhale some drops of eucalyptus oil for quick relief

 

  • Flu – flu is another most common ailment, due to variation in temperatures many tend to catch the flu. For relief take a steamy shower and sip on hot fluids like chicken soup or sweet corn soup

 

Sore throat - that tingling throat is a big pain. Hence, try gargling with a mixture of warm water and salt, and keep drinking hot water for relief

Monsoon failure to become more frequent during next 200 yrs

New Delhi, With temperatures projected to rise by 4.6 °C over pre-industrial times by 2200, 10 monsoon failures are expected in the next 50 years with daily rainfall of only about 3 mm which is about half of the normal 6 to 7 mm.

This rise is above the global target to keep the warming below 2°C post pre-industrial times to avoid dangerous possibilities of more droughts, floods and rising sea level. But as the emissions are rising globally the 2°C target is becoming increasingly harder to achieve.

Higher temperatures would vapourise more water from the Ocean to increase rains in many areas. Such shift in temperatures and rainfall would disrupt air flow known as the Pacific Walker Circulation which helps to derive the monsoon usually by bringing high pressure to the western Indian Ocean.

In long duration, El Nino effect which warms waters in the eastern Pacific with the Walker pattern shift eastwards, bringing high pressure area over India and this pattern would suppress the monsoon.

The monsoon rains could collapse about every fifth year between 2150 and 2200 with continued global warming. The monsoon in India lasts from June to September and is vital for India's 1.2 billion farmers growing crops such as rice, wheat and corn.

Hair care during winters

New Delhi, Hair care is needed during winters as dry and cool winds under sunshine take away moisture from hair and it make difficult to comb. Here we are offering you some useful tips that will make sure a health hair during winters.

Use hair oil – Spread the oil towards the tip to prevent split ends and dry hair

Use conditioner – Conditioning hair provide moisture to your hair, After every shower use conditioner as it helps to smooth the dry hair

Avoid dryers – stay away from using dryer during winters as it will affect hair by making it more brittle and dry

 Wear a scarf/cap/hat – to save the hair from being frizzy due to dry and cool winds under sun cover your hair before going outside. The cap or hat should be not too tight as it will interrupt the blood circulation in your scalp

Fight hair static - hair static is caused due to lack of moisture in the hair, hence use a leave-in conditioner after shower or spray some hair spray while styling your hair. Always use wide tooth wooden comb and never comb your hair when it is wet

Do not shampoo often - excessive shampooing can take off natural hair oils, which will result in dry hair and dry scalp. Shampoo your hair not more than three times a week and use lukewarm water.

 

These tips will serve your hair well during winters so follow them to enjoy it with full spirit.

The weather in northern India

New Delhi, While much of the south was experiencing inclement weather conditions last week, Northern India was witnessing cool and dry weather with a bit chill during the morning and evening hours. But all that changed as cyclone Nilam, after weakening into a depression, took a north-northeastely turn. The movement of the depression, which later turned into a low pressure area spun the moisture towards North India.

The already cool heavy winds present in the atmosphere due to prevalent slower northerly winds mixed with the moisture to create a weather engulfed with thick, dense fog especially during morning and evening hours to affect daily lives. Stray industrial dusts combined with vehicle pollutants made smog cover over the industrial region in Delhi and NCR and in Uttar Pradesh. Motorists on road were amazed with such a fog or smog conditions and have begun believing that winters have arrived a bit earlier this year.

However, truth be told, winter is still approaching and is yet to be announced and the weather conditions we are witnessing now are not of winter but are due to the weather system that affected the southern Peninsula last week.

The fog conditions would be there in the morning and the evening during the next couple of days but as the northerly winds would approach with an increased speed they would blow away the moisture in the winds. This will work as an antidote for the smog cover, which has poisonous contents and was also working up a green house affect to increase the minimum temperatures as the radiated heat was unable to pierce the atmosphere.

So after 48 hours, the minimum temperatures are likely to start falling again as the sky will be more open and northerly wins would once again grip northern India. The maximum temperatures would also rise a bit due to more clear sunshine.

Body-care tips for winters

New Delhi, Most of North and East India has already been experiencing cool weather all day long while the West and South have started to feel the pleasant morning chills and nippy late evenings.

The season brings lethargy with it as the general desire to spend more time sleeping rather than doing any physical activity increases. Here, we’ve jotted down the top five care tips for your skin, face and hands that can boost your spirit to enjoy winters.

 

  •       Apply moisturizer - for a radiant skin, use some good body lotion regularly after shower. This will help your skin to contain some extra moisture

 

  •       Stay away from hot water bath - hot water causes damage to your skin so try to avoid hot water baths, lukewarm water is better

 

  •        Avoid licking lips - chapped lips is the biggest problem during winters so apply lip balm or gel that will help to heal cracked lips

 

  •        Take care of you heels - cracked heel is a common worry during winters. To help it heal, keep your feet in warm water for 15 minutes and then scrub the heels with pumice stone and apply some cream.

 

  •        Hand care - before going to bed apply cream to keep them moisturized and wear gloves while going out in extreme cold. This will protect your nails from breakages

 

Following these tips would certainly keep you ready for the harsh winter season, which is about to grip the entire nation.

Global warming made Sandy more destructive?

Hurricanes like Sandy accumulate their energy from the warm waters in the top layer of the Ocean and the unusually warm late October may have made the Hurricane more destructive. Overall, the temperature of the ocean surface has raised by about one degree Fahrenheit since 1970s, said to be due to global warming. So, the Ocean surface temperature in the Western Atlantic contributed a noticeable part (10%) of the energy on which Sandy thrived.

Many of Sandy's outstanding features, including its large scale, were derived from its origin as a merger of two weather systems that converged in the western Atlantic. The ocean rose about eight inches in the last century, and the rate seems to have accelerated to about a foot. The rise is said to be a direct consequence of human-induced climate change.

At the time by which Sandy hit the Northeast coast in the US, it became a freakish hybrid of a large, late-season hurricane and a winter storm more typical of the middle latitude. This type of hybrid storm is rare enough and it has not been studied yet for whether it is likely to become more common in an ever warming climate.

Have a green Diwali to avoid Smog allergies

New Delhi, Cool weather conditions due to temperatures below normal in northwestern region are empowering the air to contain more moisture. The high level of moisture during the morning and evening hours are holding more dust and smoke particles to form 'Smog'. This smog could increase further because of bursting fire crackers during the Diwali celebrations.
Smog could even cause different types of allergies in the coming days. The high smog level in the air worsens nasal-bronchial allergies. People suffering from such allergies could find it hard to breath. Eye infections will also see a high during this Diwali. These smoggy conditions will give rise to skin allergies like itching as well.
Seeing these abnormal weather conditions combined with the adverse affects of crackers, it is advisable to go green this Diwali. Eco-friendly crackers can be used to reduce the risk of ill health.

Poor visibility in Delhi & NCR

New Delhi, The weather conditions prevailing during the last few days over the southern states was not felt in northern parts of the country but as the cyclone weakened into a depression and took a turn in the north-northeasterly direction, the moisture left in the system was pushed by the southeasterly winds towards Delhi and NCR region.
The moisture in the air is capable enough to hold the pollutants and industrial smoke to create smog in Delhi and the NCR region. The moisture availability is highest during the morning and the evening hours due to which fog affect is severe at that time of the day. Visibility is likely to be poor in the next two to three days. Haziness would be quite dense.
Haze would continue to persist even during the afternoon time affecting the maximum temperatures which would remain below normal due to unavailability of proper sunshine.
The fog conditions will reduce when the moisture laden southeasterly winds would be taken over by the relatively stronger northerly winds in this region.






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