LA NIÑA'S IMPACT ON INDIAN WINTERS

A CLOSER LOOK

- JITENDRA CHOUBEY @New Delhi

As Northwest India entered October, coinciding with the annual festive season of Dussehra, people began to feel a chill in the air, especially at night. Many started reducing their fan speeds and wrapping themselves in sheets.

This change in temperature reminded some of October 2020 when Delhi experienced its coldest month since 1962, with a mean minimum temperature of 17.2°C.

In contrast to the warmest October recorded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) last year, this year's unusual cold in October suggests a potentially colder winter ahead, one of the coldest in decades. This October, weather scientists observed that Delhi's maximum temperatures have mostly been lower than normal, while minimum temperatures have remained above average.

In the second week of the month, the season's first spell of western disturbance impacted the Northwest region, resulting in heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of the Himalayas including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttara-khand. Cold winds sweeping across the plains caused both maximum and minimum temperatures to drop to record lows for a week. The maximum temperatures dipped to the range of 26°C to 30°C, while minimum temperatures ranged from 18°C to 19°C for over 10 days, in contrast to the average mean maximum temperature of 31°C to 33°C and an average mean minimum temperature of 19°C to 22°C during October.

The sudden and consistent drop in temperatures led to concerns about a colder winter arriving alongside heightened air pollution levels in Northern India, particularly in the Indo-Gangetic plain.