agencies
NEW DELHI, Jan 16: A biting cold wave swept north and northwest India on Monday with the minimum temperature settling in the range of one to three degrees Celsius in many parts. With the frigid north-westerly winds from the Himalayas setting in over the plains, it is likely to get even colder in the region in the next two days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said cold wave conditions would abate from January 19 under the influence of two western disturbances which are likely to affect the region in quick succession. When a western disturbance -- a weather system characterised by warm moist winds from the Middle East -- approaches a region, the wind direction changes. The chilly north-westerly winds from the mountains stop blowing, leading to an increase in temperatures. Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions prevailed in many parts of Delhi and some parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the IMD said in a statement. "The minimum temperatures are in the range of one to three degrees Celsius over many parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, northwest and east Rajasthan; in the range of three to five degrees Celsius over the remaining parts of Rajasthan and many parts of west Uttar Pradesh," it said. |
