North India Could See -4 Degree Cold Wave Next Week: Weather Expert

Northern India is expected to see temperatures dip as low as -4 degrees Celsius next week, according to a weather expert. Such low temperatures have never been seen before and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that the cold wave can hit Delhi and its neighboring cities.

The founder of Live Weather of India, an online weather platform, Navdeep Dahiya, tweeted his weather predictions for the next week of January and said that Northern India can expect a cold wave with temperatures dropping as low as -4 degrees Celsius in the plains. He added that this is the first time in his career that temperatures are predicted to fall this low.

The cold wave is expected to last between January 14 and January 19, with the peak between January 16 and January 18.

Notable, Dahiya did mention that there could be changes in this prediction given the upcoming three days and the fog. He added that “frosty mornings” and “cold blast” days can be expected next week as temperatures will stay in the single digits.

India Meteorological Department also shared that Delhi and its neighboring cities could be hit by the cold wave in isolated pockets. The organization had predicted a temporary relief for residents of Northwest India this week as an active western disturbance was said to raise the minimum temperature by 2-4 over the northwestern plains. However, it did warn the public of a burst of an icy chill after Friday.

The capital recently recorded its third-worst cold spell in 23 years with minimum temperatures settling at 9.3 degrees Celsius. RK Jenamani, a weather scientist at IMD said, “A similar situation was experienced in 2006 when the lowest temperature was recorded at 1.9 degrees Celsius. In 2013, there was a similar cold spell.”

He added that Northern cities including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Western UP, and North Rajasthan could experience light rainfall over the next few days while Jammu and Kashmir could experience heavy snowfall. “In Himalayan states, including Jammu and Kashmir, and especially in Kashmir, there might be heavy rainfall or snowfall on January 12. There could also be rains or snowfall in Himachal and Uttarakhand between January 11 and 14.”

Vineet Washington