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You don’t feel anything like May. Just as northern India was preparing for one of the hottest months of the year, it was greeted with widespread rains and hailstorms. Delhi recorded its coldest May night in nearly 40 years, with the lowest temperature dropping to 15.8°C on Wednesday night.
The most recent occurrence was on the night of May 2, 1982, when the mercury dropped to 15.2 ℃ – its lowest level ever for the month. It is not just the national capital, but the entire northwest of India which is known for its hot summers has been enveloped in surprisingly cool weather. White clouds float lazily across the blue sky, and daytime temperatures remain 37-3-7 below normal for the time of year.
“It’s not entirely unusual, but it’s not uncommon either. These weather changes happen once in many years. There was an active westerly weather system over the mid-latitudes, and it was very intense and its impact was seen across the plains,” said Rajendra Kumar, chief scientist of the Met Department. Air India, to News18: ‘Continuous rains have caused the mercury to drop dramatically.
The Delhi Ridge Weather Observatory recorded the lowest minimum temperature for the plains at 14.2 ℃ on Wednesday.
What led to the sudden change?
A severe westerly disturbance struck the Himalayan region around April 26. These are rain systems that originate in the Mediterranean Sea and move east to bring rain/snow over India. The strength of the system was such that it not only brought heavy rains to the mountainous regions but even the plains for about a week.
The Pitampura Observatory in Delhi has recorded nearly 53mm of rain in the past four days, including 32.8mm of rain on Wednesday.
child effect?
According to some scientists, such anomalous weather can be expected during El Nino years – when the tropical Pacific Ocean becomes much warmer than usual.
“An El Niño year in general brings great natural variation in pre-monsoon precipitation during the months of April and May. WDs tend to deepen and affect a large part of the plains, which we have just witnessed,” says Dr M Rajivan, former Secretary at the Ministry of Geosciences (MoES). “This year we’ve seen a lot of disruptions, most of them severe. But these are changes from year to year. We should be concerned, if we see a long-term trend.”
The cool weather provided much-needed relief from the scorching heat, with IMD ruling out any possibility of heat waves for at least the next five days. A stark contrast to 2022, when northern India bore the brunt of its hottest summer in 100 years.
Changing weather patterns?
Sure, there’s a sense of relief, but such sudden changes in weather are being studied by scientists for the primary impact of shifting climate patterns. There is no clear long-term trend, it seems, but there are differences between the years.
Weather disturbances that usually affect the northern region during the period from January to March, are now very active even during the months of April and May when their activity usually subsides.
“There have been constant bouts of rain. It was not so severe before; except in 2021 and 2023, it has been normal to below normal April rainfall in Himachal Pradesh for the past 20 years. Surender Paul, IMD Chief Scientist from Shimla says, “ This year, it was a plus, and it continues to this day.”
If the latest forecasts are to be believed, the weather will likely remain pleasant for a few more days, before “summer-like” conditions finally return, but there will be no heat waves for at least the next five days.
Precipitation has decreased significantly over the area but is likely to return again Friday night onwards. A new western disturbance may hit the Himalayan region on Friday night and bring fairly widespread rain/snowfall over the mountainous countries.
Northwestern states like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi could also see scattered rain with thunderstorms/lightning/gusty winds during May 6-7. There is also a possibility of hailstorms on Sunday in a few places.
IMD said maximum temperatures will then rise and become near-normal over the country on May 7, with the exception of coastal Odisha and coastal West Bengal, where they are likely to be 2-4 degrees Celsius above normal by May 8.
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