Mercury Nosedive To Freeze, Churu Comes First To Register Zero Degree

Churu, a gateway to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, scored 1^st ‘freeze’ for the plains of North India this season.  The city recorded minimum temperature of 0°C today morning , to be on top of ‘club of zero’ this season in the plains. The desert city has a track record of breaching this mark in December and achieved a hat trick of going sub-zero for last 3 consecutive years. Last year, the mercury plummeted to -1.5°C, on 30^thDecember.

Cold wave has been sweeping the region, dropping night temperature within whisker of freezing cold.  Pilani recorded a minimum temperature of 1.1°C and some reports quote, Fatehpur going sub-zero with a low of -1.6°C. These temperatures are 5-7°C below the normal and therefore slipping in to severe cold wave, for the 1^st time this year.

Northern plains will continue to be swept by cold northwesterly winds for the next  5 days. Temperatures across the region will stay much below the normal mark. Cold  wave conditions at most places and severe cold wave at few places are quite likely for the next 4-5 days. Places like Churu, Sikar, Pilani in Rajasthan and Hisar, Narnaul and Rohtak in Haryana are vulnerable for extreme cold conditions. Also, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Moga, Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Fazilka, and Ludhiana face the risk of severe cold wave conditions during this period.

Fresh western disturbance is expected to arrive on 22^ndDecember and will impact weather over the hilly states on 22^nd and 23^rdDec. For the subsequent 48hr, the weather activity will extend to cover plains of North India covering parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Cold wave conditions will abate from 23^rdDec onward. However,  the day temperatures are likely to plunge below the normal between 23^rd and 26^thDecember.