The reason for a delay in the onset of winter is the vigorous continuity of north-eastern monsoon-like conditions over the region.
Weather experts say winter in Telangana is delayed by another 10 days. Meanwhile, the minimum temperatures in the region have been steadily rising over the last few days unlike previous years.
According to the Hyderabad Centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature recorded in Hyderabad on December 8 was 21 degrees Celsius compared to 15.5 degrees Celsius recorded on the same day last year.
Similarly, Adilabad in northern Telangana, which witnesses the state’s lowest temperatures, recorded 19 degrees Celsius on Wednesday compared to 10 degrees Celsius on the same day last year.
“The onset of winter over Telangana is delayed. We saw appreciably above-normal conditions (2-3 degrees Celsius above normal) in the first week of December, said Dr A Sravani, scientist-C, IMD Hyderabad.
“It is going to be a normal winter and not a cold winter this year. We expect one or two spells of cold wave in January and February next year,” she added.
The reason for a delay in the onset of winter, however, is the vigorous continuity of north-eastern monsoon-like conditions over the region. “We are still experiencing low-level easterly and north-easterly winds. Due to the absence of Western disturbance yet, the anti-cyclonic circulation is still lying over central India and we have not started receiving northerly and northwesterly dry and cold winds. We can expect a sudden drop in minimum temperatures after December 17,” she added. ,” she said.
The lowest minimum temperature recorded by IMD in the state this December so far has been 13.2 degrees Celsius in Medak district on December 8.
“It is going to be a normal winter and not a cold winter this year. We expect one or two spells of cold wave in January and February next year,” she added.
Usually in Telangana winter sets in by the last week of November. The minimum temperatures used to hover around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius at several places over the state during the first week of December and drop further by the last week of December. The winter is usually at its peak by the second week of January.
According to the state-run Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), which monitors the weather through its 1044 automated weather stations on a real-time basis since 2013, the lowest minimum temperatures recorded in December in the state was 2.5 degrees Celsius in Kamareddy district in 2014, followed by 2.7 degree Celsius in Adilabad in 2018, and 3 degree Celsius in Siddipet in 2015.
On Thursday, TSDPS recorded a lowest minimum temperature of 14.9 degrees Celsius from Asifabad district for the last 24 hours.
Explaining further, Dr YV Rama Rao, former Deputy Director-General of IMD, said that the easterly wave continues to be active, because of La Niña conditions prevailing over the Pacific Ocean, bringing in moisture from the Bay of Bengal to the southern peninsula. This easterly wave was also the reason why multiple low-pressure areas were formed in the Bay of Bengal causing extreme rainfall on the east coast recently.
“The weather over Telangana drops usually when we get dry winds from northern India. We can expect that to happen in another 10 days when the easterly flows reduce and western disturbance brings in cold winds from the north,” said Dr. Rao, who is also a consultant with TSDPS.
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