India weather forecast latest, December 18: Cold wave to persist and scattered to fairly widespread rain over Tamil Nadu, Kerala
	India weather forecast latest, December 17: Heavy rainfall to cover some isolated places
	India weather forecast latest, December 16: Cold weather expected as minimum temperatures continue to fall

According to Skymet Weather, a weak western disturbance is over Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining parts. However, this system will not give any special rain or snowfall.

A cyclonic circulation persists over the southwestern parts of the Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka and the Comorin region. This system is active.

During the next 24 hours, Northeast monsoon will remain active over coastal Tamil Nadu and torrential rains are expected to continue over various parts of coastal Tamil Nadu including Puducherry.

Light to moderate rains are likely over interior Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andaman and Islands. Coastal and southern interior Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh may also receive light rains.

Cold day conditions will continue in Punjab, northwest Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and northern Rajasthan. Cold wave conditions will persist over Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi as well as many parts of Rajasthan.

The mercury in Srinagar settled at 0.1 degree Celsius, according to IMD officials. ( Waseem Andrabi/Hindustan Times )

Many stations in northwest India recorded extremely low minimum temperatures on Thursday — Churu recorded 2.2°C; Bikaner 3.1°C; Mt Abu -1°C; Sikar 0.5°C; Bareilly 3.3°C; Delhi Ridge 3.5°C; Narnaul 2.6°C; Ranichauri -1.4°C; and Gulmarg -11°C. Day temperatures were also unusually low — on Wednesday (maximum temperature data has been tabulated for Wednesday) Jammu recorded 14.4°C; Kathua 10; Keylong 3.3; Dalhousie 1.5; Amritsar 8.2; Bathinda 10; Hisar and Karnal at 15; Churu 16; Ganganagar 13.4.

Photo: Weather Online

“Icy winds are blowing from the snow-clad mountains towards Delhi now. Around December 15 to 20 climatologically also we see a sharp fall in temperatures as sun rays are falling slightly slanted and not vertical. There is also uplifted fog in some regions over northwest India which is also not allowing the surface to warm up during the day. Overall the icy winds due to heavy snow cover over Himalayas are the primary driver for extremely cold days,” explained Kuldeep Shrivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre.

IMD had warned on Wednesday that “cold wave” to “severe cold” conditions may have a number of serious impacts on health that shouldn’t be ignored. There is an increased likelihood of various illnesses like flu, stuffy nose or nosebleed, shivering which is a first sign of the body losing heat. Prolonged exposure to extreme cold can cause frostbite, which leads to the skin turns pale, hard and numb and eventually black blisters appear on exposed body parts such as fingers, toes, nose and or earlobes. Severe frostbite needs immediate medical attention and treatment.

The impact-based warning issued by IMD for cold wave recommends that people wear insulated shoes, moisturise skin, increase vitamin C intake, limit outdoor activities, maintain ventilation while using heaters, avoid drinking alcohol as it reduces body heat etc.

Photo: Meteoblue

Some of those exposed to dense fog could also suffer health impacts. Dense fog contains particulate matter and other pollutants which can get lodged in the lungs leading to episodes of wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath. Those with asthma and bronchitis are particularly vulnerable.

According to IMD, a “cold day” or “severe cold day” is considered based on two parameters — a minimum temperature of under 10 degrees Celsius and maximum temperature that is 4.5 degrees Celsius or 6.4 degrees Celsius below normal respectively.

A cold wave occurs in plains when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and/or is 4.5 notches lesser than the season’s normal for two consecutive days. Cold wave is also declared when the minimum temperature is less than 4 degree C in the plains. Witnessing a cold day and cold wave together means the gap between day and night temperatures was lower than normal.

Photo: Weather Forecast

“Cold wave to severe cold wave” conditions are very likely in some pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan during next three days and decrease thereafter according to IMD’s bulletin. “Cold day to severe cold day” conditions are likely in some pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, north Rajasthan and northwest Uttar Pradesh during next two days and decrease thereafter. Dense fog is likely in some pockets over Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram during next three days, Hindustan Times reported.

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