North India: The weather in North India, particularly in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana will be extremely pleasant during the start of the week, adding to the festivities of Lohri and Makar Sankranti. However, a change in the wind pattern from dry northwesterlies to humid southeasterlies towards the mid-week may lead to a moderate/dense fog cover in some pockets of northern plains. Cloudy skies and a dense fog cover may result in minimums rising by 1⁰C to 3⁰C and staying close to 10⁰C. Maximums are expected to drop and settle between 17⁰C and 20⁰C. Towards the end of the week, i.e. on Friday or Saturday, parts of Delhi may witness light rain in view of the fresh Western Disturbance.
East and Northeast India: Weather in East India could be extremely cold, with cold day conditions prevailing. Rain and thick fog cover would be the main features of the week. Parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar could witness extreme cold with maximums dropping significantly. Maximums in parts of west and central Uttar Pradesh could settle 6 to 8 degrees below normal, at around 15⁰C. A dense fog cover with visibility dropping to nil will further add to the trouble. Rain could commence in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh on the 17th and 18th of January. Northeast India, particularly Agartala, Guwahati and Siliguri could be engulfed in thick fog.
Central India: The weather in Central India will be mostly comfortable this week with maximums settling between 22⁰C and 25⁰C. Minimums are expected to stay in the range of 8⁰C to 12⁰C. Parts of Madhya Pradesh, particularly Gwalior could remain engulfed in dense to very dense fog till mid-week. Weather could be rainy in Madhya Pradesh and parts of Chhattisgarh towards the end of the week, leading to a drop in the day temperatures. The weather would change to become dry and sunny from Sunday onwards. Days in Odisha will continue to be the warmest in Central India.
South India: While rest of the country is experiencing cold and rainy weather, weather in South India will be hot and dry. Maximums in parts of Kerala and coastal Karnataka will continue to remain in the mid-thirties, making it the hottest part of the country. Tamil Nadu could receive very light rain on the first two days of the week and then it could once again turn dry and warm. Mumbai and Goa along the west coast of peninsular India will enjoy comfortable days and nights. Maximums here may settle between 27⁰C and 28⁰C while, minimums are likely to stay in the range of 17⁰C and 19⁰C.
Photo by Ritika Acharya.