• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Vinson Kurian

Thiruvananthapuram , Feb. 2

ANOMALOUS WARM weather has come to pervade most parts of the country, much before the last western disturbance with its pronouncedly cold nip has announced its arrival along the northwestern border.

The resultant convective activity triggered by the ascending air is poised to act in consort with a benign easterly circulation to generate rain in the east and the northeast in a phenomenon typical of pre-monsoon weather, says Dr Akhilesh Gupta of the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF). But Dr Gupta hastened to add that any inference that the northeast will have been brought under pre-monsoon proper is not warranted at this point of time. Neither can the warming anomaly be extrapolated to make any judgment on the harshness or otherwise of the summer ahead.

All the same, the sheer scale and extent of the warming anomaly is unprecedented for this time of the year. The prevailing daytime maximums and extent of the anomaly (in degree Celsius on February 1) at some of the major centres in the northeast are — Agartala 30.4 (+4); Dibrugarh 28.7 (+6); Gangtok 17.6 (+4); Guwahati 30.2 (+5); Imphal 26.7 (+5); Jharsuguda 32.6 (+4) and Mohampalli 28.7 (+6).

While the daytime maximums have been above normal by one to six degrees Celsius in these areas, more or less similar a trend has been noticed in central and north peninsular India as well. Both day and night temperatures have rose in tandem except possibly over some parts of the southern peninsula, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Dr Gupta attributed the anomaly to the strange behaviour of the extra-tropical westerly systems (western disturbances) heading into northwest India. The last such system had impacted the region around January 27 but was followed by a large westerly trough that has refused to leave the scene till date.

This, in association with the seasonal anti-cyclone, has since affected the prevailing wind pattern in north and central India. Dry west-southwesterly winds from Rajasthan have been sweeping Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, while warm winds from the east and the northeast have been walloping central and north peninsular India.

In its update on Thursday, the NCMRWF said that in the absence of any major concurrent weather systems, large parts of the country are witnessing mainly a dry weather condition.

Barring extreme south peninsular India, most parts have been experiencing warmer than normal day and night temperatures.

The predictions, however, suggest that the commencement of a northwesterly wind flow from Friday will bring down both day and night temperatures by three to five degrees Celsius over northwest and central India. The falling trend may progressively extend to the east and northeastern parts by Sunday.

A fresh western disturbance may start affecting the northwest by Tuesday. The system may cause isolated rainfall/snowfall in the hills of the region.

More Stories on : Climate & Weather | Climate & Weather

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
TCS to run automated rural job scheme — Pilot project launched in AP; leakages can be plugged, says Ramadorai

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line