Feeling the Chills: Why Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune are facing the coldest November in years

Winter is all set to arrive. Many parts of the country, especially north India, have already started experiencing a nip in the air in the last few days.

While Maharashtra’s Mumbai saw a dip in mercury below 20 degrees for a second time in two weeks this month, Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru has recorded its lowest temperature in a decade.

Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, parts of Madhya Pradesh among others have also been waking up to chilly mornings.

Why temperatures have dipped in Maharashtra and Karnataka? What is the weather forecast in Delhi, Rajasthan, and other states? We take a detailed look.

‘Coldest day in 10 years’

With a minimum temperature of 13.9 degrees Celsius, Bengaluru experienced a cold Monday (21 November) morning. This was the lowest mercury reported in November in a decade.

The minimum temperature at Bengaluru City station was 13.9 degree Celsius, 14.7 degree Celsius at Bengaluru International Airport, and at HAL airport station it was as low as 12.5 degrees Celsius, reports Bangalore Mirror.

The maximum temperature reached 25.2 degrees Celsius in India’s IT capital, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The weather department said the last time the city logged such a low temperature in November was on 21 November 2012 when the temperature dipped to 13.3 degrees Celsius, reports Indian Express.

Notably, the Garden City had recorded an all-time dip in mercury with 9.6 degrees Celsius on 15 November 1967.

The IMD predicts a generally cloudy sky till Wednesday (23 November) in the city.

On Sunday, Bidar city had reported the lowest minimum temperature of 8.5 degrees Celsius in the plains region of the state.

The Met department has attributed the fall in temperature in Karnataka to the low-pressure region formed over the central parts of the South Bay of Bengal moving towards the coast of Tamil Nadu.

“The depression in the Bay of Bengal is moving closer to the Tamil Nadu coast. On its way, it has sucked in all the moisture. This has led to cloudless and clear skies. In absence of clouds, radiating heat from the earth’s surface is not trapped and this results in a sharp drop in minimum temperature. On Monday morning, the minimum temperature fell by more than 5.1 degrees Celsius due to this phenomenon, known as radiative cooling of the earth’s surface during the night-time,” an official of the weather department told Bangalore Mirror.

The official has forecast light to moderate rainfall today (22 November) and the next day in Bengaluru. Moreover, the minimum temperature is expected to increase in the city from Wednesday.

Other Karnataka districts such as Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Mysuru, Ramanagara, Mandya and some regions of Tumakuru are predicted to have cloudy days with light to moderate rainfall in the coming days, as per Bangalore Mirror.

ALSO READ: Weather report: Large-scale seasonal transition is observed over country last week, winter is knocking doors

Cold wave warning in Maharashtra

Mumbai was greeted by a chilly surprise on Monday morning as the mercury dipped to 17 degrees Celsius. According to Hindustan Times, this is the lowest temperature in the city since 2017 when the mercury had reached 18 degrees Celsius.

Pune’s Shivajinagar saw the mercury sinking to 8.8 degrees Celsius on Monday which was a record low night temperature in a decade in the month of November. In 2012, Pune had logged 7.9 degrees Celsius.

Maharashtra’s Jalgaon remained the coldest place in the state with the minimum temperature at 8.2 degrees Celsius.

As per Times of India (TOI), some regions in the state, including Pune, have been witnessing colder nights than areas in the north, including Jammu and Kashmir.

A cold wave alert has also been issued for some parts of Maharashtra.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Mumbai has issued a warning for isolated pockets in Nashik, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Pune, Aurangabad and Jalna for the next 24 hours, reports TOI. 

Explaining the reason behind chilly weather, an expert told TOI newspaper that northerly winds have entered the state, thus causing a drop in mercury. “The northerly wind component has been coming over central India into parts of Maharashtra. These north-northeasterly winds are relatively cold and dry and have been blowing over Madhya Maharashtra including Pune,” Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather forecasting division, IMD, told the newspaper.

The expert also said they expect the plunging in temperatures to cease from Tuesday. “We are expecting some moisture incursion into parts of Maharashtra, especially south-central parts of the state like Pune during the next three-four days. This could aid rise in temperature,” Kashyapi added.

Weather in other states

The mercury in Delhi rose slightly on Tuesday as it reached 9.4 degrees Celsius. The National Capital had recorded its coldest morning of the season on Monday when the minimum temperature plunged to 8.9 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.

Fatehpur in Rajasthan’s Sikar district remained coldest region in the state with a minimum of 6 degrees Celsius, the Met department said on Tuesday.

The mercury dipped 6.4 degrees Celsius in Churu, 7.1 degrees in Chittorgarh and nine degrees in Nagaur and Bhilwara.

The weather is predicted to remain dry in the state for the next few days.

The IMD has notified a cold wave alert in five districts of Madhya Pradesh including Betul, Khandwa, Khargone, Chattarpur and Jabalpur, TOI reported on Tuesday.

In the past 24 hours, a minimum temperature of eight degrees Celsius was logged at Umaria, Malajkhand in Balaghat, Betul and Khajuraho of Chhattarpur district.

Besides braving the cold wave, the weather is likely to remain dry and the sky would be clear in the state. The cold is expected to rise after the next two days in Bhopal.

Shimla in Himachal Pradesh woke up to 11 degrees Celsius today. As per Times Now, rainfall or snowfall is not expected in Shimla in the day.

Jammu and Kashmir continues to shiver with minimum temperatures reaching in minus at several places.

Srinagar reported 1.4 degrees Celsius temperature today, while the Jammu region clocked 11 degrees Celsius.

The mercury dipped to -0.49 degrees Celsius in Gulmarg, a famous tourist destination in Kashmir. The temperatures were -3.2 degrees Celsius at Pahalgam, 9.2 degrees Celsius at Banihal and 8.8 degrees Celsius at Samba.

Rainfall warning

According to the IMD forecast, “Light to moderate rainfall at many places with isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over North Tamilnadu-Puducherry and south coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining Rayalaseema on 21 and 22 November and light to moderate rainfall at a few places over North coastal Andhra Pradesh during the same period.”

Light to moderate rainfall is also expected over North Tamil Nadu-Puducherry, South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema on 23 November, the Met department added.

With inputs from agencies

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