A persisting cold wave, dense fog, and ground frost have scaled up winter climes over North India even as a late-in-the-season, low-pressure area is brewing in the seas to the south-east of peninsular India.

Peak winter conditions in the North are expected to continue right into the weekend, while the approaching ‘low’ will bring rain to parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Fishermen have been advised to exercise caution.

The weather over the North is expectedly being modulated by the movement of western disturbances (moving low-pressure waves); associated cloud cover helps retain solar radiation from escaping into the atmosphere, ensuring some warmth.

But its exit to the East and North-East causes skies to clear up, allows atmospheric pressure to build up due to sinking motion of air (it rises in a low-pressure scenario) with cold Arctic air filling the rear.

This is what brings down the mercury levels and sets off a cold wave.

During the 24 hours ending Thursday morning, severe cold wave conditions persisted over Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh.

This happened as a remnant of a prevailing western disturbances moved away from the region. But a successor wave is waiting its turn over East Afghanistan and adjoining Pakistan, setting off dense to very dense fog downstream over North India.

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