Parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema have constantly been recording temperatures below normal by 2 to 5 degrees in the last few days. North interior Karnataka too has seen minimums fall 4 to 8 degrees below normal, indicating that the weather in South India has turned as cold as that in North India. Nights have become unusually chilly as the minimums are settling between 7⁰C to 10⁰C in the region.
Weather models at Skymet indicate that north interior Karnataka is currently experiencing a ‘cold-wave’ condition. Some of the cities that are witnessing lower minimums are: Belgaum 9.5⁰C (6 degrees below normal), Bijapur 7.5⁰C (8 degrees below normal), Hassan 10⁰C (5 degrees below normal), Raichur 12.9⁰C (4 degrees below normal) and Bangalore 14⁰C (2 degrees below normal).
Hyderabad 13⁰C (2 degrees below normal), Ramagundam 9.8⁰C (5 degrees below normal), Anantpur 15⁰C (2 degrees below normal) were among other cities in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema to record colder night temperatures.
“In the absence of any activity or system, the weather in South India usually turns quite warm but this time the temperatures have been way below normal and the difference between the maximum and minimum is exceeding 20 degrees. This happens when the weather in North India turns cold and the icy northwesterly winds from the hills of North India reach up to South India. A cold spell in North India will therefore always trickle down to Central and South India”, explained a senior meteorologist at skymetweather.com
A similar ‘cold-wave’ like situation is being experienced in Madhya Maharashtra. Temperatures in Nashik and Pune have been recording lower than that of Delhi (8.9⁰C), for the last ten days. Nasik recorded the lowest minimum of 6.5⁰C on 15th December and Pune the lowest minimum of 6.8⁰C on 14th December, 2013.
Meanwhile, forecast suggests that the weather in South India would improve to become a little warm in the next 24 hours. Minimum temperatures would rise gradually to come closer to normal, whereas in Madhya Maharashtra the ‘cold-wave’ like conditions will start to improve only after 48 hours, owing to the terrain of the region.
Photo by gulfnews.
