The Hindu Business Line : Weather-maker La Nina matures in Pacific

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 13 The La Nina event in the Pacific basin has matured, according to the latest update from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).

This colder counterpart of El Nino has been variously held responsible for the unusually dry but cold winter this season over north and northwest India as also for unprecedented snowstorms and record low temperatures in neighbouring China.

The BoM expected the La Nina to last until at least the end of the southern autumn while other models saw the cooling trend in the Pacific waters to hold even beyond. These models believe it would go to ensure a good Indian summer monsoon later this year.

COLD WAVE ON

Back home, cold wave conditions prevailed over most parts of central India and adjoining east India and many parts of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and some parts of Gujarat during the 24 hours ending Wednesday morning.

Severe cold wave conditions prevailed over isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

These conditions are set to sustain over the next two more days while extending into some more parts of east India, said an update from the India Meteorological Department. Ground frost conditions are also likely over some parts of Punjab and Haryana during the next two nights.

Projections by the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) suggest that the cold conditions may extend for another week (until February 20).

RAIN IN JAMMU

Isolated rain or snow is likely over Jammu and Kashmir from Thursday onwards from stray moisture drifting into the region. Isolated rain or thundershowers are also likely over south Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa. Cold wave conditions are likely over Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Towards the east, isolated rain or thundershowers are likely over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Cold wave conditions are likely over east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and adjoining Orissa.

In the South, thundershowers are likely at a few places over coastal Andhra Pradesh and coastal Karnataka during the next 24 hours and isolated thereafter. Isolated rain is likely over Rayalaseema during the next two days and the rest region outside Telangana where weather will be mainly dry.

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