The Hindu Business Line : Severe Northern winter is in line with global pattern

SNOWFALL on Thursday night in Jammu, the first in recorded history, is a pointer to the levels the mercury has plunged early during an year that saw weather anomalies become a rule rather an exception, not just at home but across the world.

Snowstorms, droughts and floods have been reported one after the other over the past two-three weeks from across the world in a pattern unprecedented in the recent past. Data posted by the National Climate Data Centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US bears testimony to this.

Heavy downpour in Mecca and Madina and other parts of the barren Middle East during the just-concluded Haj season was one such aberration. Around the same time in India, the entire North, Northwest and parts of the North-East were brought under the grip of a severe cold wave. This saw some places in Himachal Pradesh and the upper reaches of Kashmir record snowfalls of up to 35-40 cm.

There have been times when the snowfall continued at a stretch for days together. Normal life has been thrown out of gear in large parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The northwest flank of Uttaranchal and the plains of Rajasthan, Punjab and Delhi also saw the mercury dip to record lows.

But none of this has anything to do with either the devastating Indonesian quake and the tsunami that followed, says Dr M. Rajeevan, Director (Forecasting), India Meteorological Department (IMD). These phenomena can at best have very severe but short-term impact for the topography, but that's about it. They do not hold any long-term implications, especially for the atmosphere, he told Business Line.

India just happens to be at the receiving end of a severe winter weather system along with large parts of the Northern hemisphere. "We should not worry too much over this development. This merely means that we are passing through a severe winter year," Dr Rajeevan explained.

The period also saw Europe being subjected to untimely floods, severe snowstorms lash the North-East of the US and a severe drought stalk Africa.

The tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka and Indonesia were subjected to heavy rains in early January, hampering rescue and relief efforts. Rainfall to the order of 30 cm flooded parts of Sumatra and the southeast sections of Sri Lanka between December 28 and January 5.

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