Weather activity over the country around this time is largely attributed to the western disturbance and their support systems over northern parts of the country. Northeast monsoon hangs around till December end or early January, albeit in a receding mode. Western, central and eastern parts of the country come in for minimal weather activity. These parts also remain for from the reach of systems in the north and south. Indian seas do form active basins for cyclonic activity till December and mostly become docile in January.
So far, mainly weak western disturbances have moved across the mountains of North India, Weather activity remained confined to mid and higher reaches. Popular resorts like Srinagar, Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie, Mussorie and Nainital have yet to record decent December rains. Snowfall has eluded all these popular destinations. Even the rains have been far and few for the plains of North India.
Northeast monsoon had been fairly active, more so for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Earlier cyclone Michaung and recent Comorin area circulation deluged pockets of Tamil Nadu. Worst hit pockets are still recovering in the aftermath of cataclysmic event. But, there is a relief now and weather activity has reduced substantially.
A western disturbance is approaching Jammu & Kashmir tomorrow and will clear the region by 24thDecember. Weather activity will remain confined to the higher hills of the state and Himachal Pradesh. Uttrakhand will witness residual effect on 23rdDec. Isolated light rain is likely over parts of Punjab and Rajasthan on 22nd Dec and improve thereafter. With the approach of system. Minimum temperatures will rise by 2-3°C and drop again after 24thDec. Dense fog is quite likely in some parts during morning hours.
Northeast monsoon over South Peninsula will remain mild. The transitory circulations, traveling east to west are moving across Sri Lanka, Comorin and Maldives. These are maintaining fairly safe distance from the mainland. Therefore, weak northeast monsoon activity will go on at least for one week. During this period, few moderate showers can not be ruled out for Coastal Tamil Nadu, including capital city Chennai. Though, it is bit early to predict, there are chances of weather system coming up over the Southeast Arabian Sea during end of the month. Even some storm forms, it will have a tendency to shift away from the Indian coastline.
Western and central parts including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal will observe fair weather conditions. Temperature variations will not be large. Shallow fog in patches quite likely for Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
Northeastern states will observe pleasant weather conditions with minimal interruptions. Isolated weather activity is likely for the state of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh around Christmas eve. Dense fog is expected in some areas during the morning hours, particularly for the airfields like Guwahati, Imphal, Dimapur and Aizawl.