A fresh Western Disturbance accompanied by moist easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal hit the northwest plains of the country including the capital region, Delhi on the night of February 13 bringing about another spell of rain in the entire NCR region. The month of February has been unusual for Delhi in terms of weather activity. Below are some of the instances.
Western Disturbance: This February so far, Delhi and its adjoining areas have been a witness to successive Western Disturbances, which haven't allowed cold northerly winds to persist for long periods. However, cloud cover has been very common during this phase. So the absence of cold winds and the presence of cloud cover has resulted in minimums recording above normal.
Record Hailstorm: Delhi-NCR has so far observed the heaviest hailstorm activity in history. It came in two big spells on February 7.
Frequent Spell of Rain: February has the highest number of rainy days during the winter season. The normal range of rainfall for the month of February at the Palam Observatory is 20 mm. Till date, we already have had two occasions of rainfall recorded to the tune of 33 mm at the Observatory.
Lesser Number of Fog Days: During the month of December and the initial period of January, Delhi and NCR didn’t receive enough rainfall, thus humidity levels were low. For the formation of fog there are three basic perquisites: high humidity, light winds and low temperature. Although, the temperatures were low, but lack of high humidity levels resulted in shallow and lesser number of fog days. Frequent Western Disturbances and strong north-westerlies also played their role.
High Minimum Temperature: Unlike January, in the month of February, the minimums are mostly above normal. From the past three successive days, i.e. February 12- February 14, minimums have been recording above normal and settling in double digits. The reason for the same is that the successive Western Disturbances are not allowing the cold north-westerlies to persist for long duration. Also, frequent cloud cover has been held responsible for higher minimums.
Cold Day Conditions: This season we haven’t had any Cold Day Condition- when maximums settle at 16 degrees or below. The reason for such a change was clear skies and the absence of dense fog.
Image Credit: Live Mint
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