PUNE: An early season cold burst is sweeping across swathes of the country, turning the first half of November significantly colder than usual. From the northern plains to central India, and even Maharashtra, minimum temperatures have dipped below normal almost every single day this month, a pattern IMD scientists describe as “climatologically unusual, but still within year-to-year variability”.The met department said cold to severe cold wave conditions affected parts of Madhya Maharashtra and west Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, to be followed by likely cold wave conditions in isolated pockets of west MP on Wednesday and Friday.Delhi has witnessed the earliest drop to single-digit temperatures in 11 years, with the minimum staying below 10 degrees C since Nov 15. Monday recorded the season’s lowest temperature so far of 8.7 degrees C, nearly four notches below normal.The sweeping chill is evident in IMD’s all-India temperature anomaly maps for the first 18 days of Nov, which show large swathes of the country registering minimum temperatures 2-3 degrees C below normal. On Tuesday, minimum temperatures in parts of India were 2-6 degrees below normal.Northwesterly or northernly winds have brought down temperatures. East MP may see a cold wave spell till Friday while Vidarbha and Marathwada, Telangana and Chhattisgarh faced cold wave conditions on Tuesday, and parts of Madhya Maharashtra may again experience it on Wednesday. Even Maharashtra, which rarely experiences widespread Nov cold, is firmly in the grip of this spell. Pune recorded its coldest Nov morning in nine years on Tuesday (if the first 18 days of the month are considered), with temperatures sliding to 9.4 degrees C in Shivajinagar and 9 degrees C in Pashan.“Across many parts of northwest, central, east and north peninsular India, minimum temperatures are below normal due to persistent northwesterly or northernly winds. Cold wave conditions are prevailing over parts of central and north peninsular India…,” said IMD scientist Naresh Kumar.Adding perspective on the nationwide pattern, Skymet Weather president GP Sharma said several pockets have slipped into winter-like conditions far ahead of schedule. “A sharp cold wave is gripping Maharashtra, with Madhya Maharashtra, and even Mumbai, seeing single-digit lows and temperatures 5-8 degrees below normal. Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam are facing a sharper-than-usual Nov chill, with minimum temperatures running well below normal. Punjab, Haryana and east Rajasthan are also reporting unusually low minimum temperatures, with several cities dipping into single digits and isolated cold-wave conditions,” he said.
