Winter Delayed As Above Normal Temperatures Across India: Weather Office

India may have to wait a bit longer for winter as the weather office on Tuesday forecast above-normal night temperatures for most parts of the country in November.

Addressing a press conference here, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said minimum temperatures were expected to be above normal during November over most parts of the country.

Large parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand are also likely to experience above-normal day temperatures, Mr Mohapatra said, virtually ruling out coldwave conditions during the month.

"There could be cloudy conditions in the region as minimum temperatures are likely to be above normal. This would mean that coldwave conditions were less likely during November," he said.

In north India, the indication of winter starts from mid-November when minimum temperatures drop gradually to settle below 15 degrees Celsius and nights turn chilly.

According to the long range forecast for rainfall and temperature for November, Mohapatra said south peninsular India was likely to experience above-normal rainfall during the month as northeast monsoon showers were set to drench the region.

The long period average rainfall for south peninsular India for November is 118.7 mm with an error margin of 23 per cent.

Mr Mohapatra said the northeast monsoon set in over Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas on October 29, almost a fortnight later than the normal onset date of October 15.

He said withdrawal of the southwest monsoon, which starts from extreme west Rajasthan on September 15, too had been delayed over the past few years.

Mr Mohapatra said the current sea surface temperatures and atmospheric conditions over the equatorial Pacific Ocean indicated La Nina conditions, which are likely to continue during the upcoming season.

Other factors such as the negative Indian Ocean Dipole conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Indian Ocean, which are expected to gradually weaken by the end of the year, he said.

Mr Mohapatra said the weather office had issued the extended range outlook about Cyclone Sitrang on October 13, nine days before the formation of a depression over the north Andaman Sea and also forecast its landfall in Bangladesh four days in advance.

He said regular updates were issued to Bangladesh since October 6 and 23 special tropical weather outlook & tropical cyclone advisories were shared with the neighbouring country on the formation of the cyclonic storm.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)