We are now reading and hearing about the cold wave in the northern regions of India, which, of-course, has now started, and is "catching up" with the cold weather and extreme low temperatures elsewhere in the northern hemisphere. Delhi at 4c, Amritsar at 0.9c, Srinagar at -3c, Kalpa (h.P.) at-5.4c, Pahalgam at -7.4c,Leh -12c and kargil at -19c are some of the extreme lows in India in the week just eneded.

But as discussed before, it is a late winter in our region.

For the monthe of December on the whole, the attached map shows an overall above normal temperature.

In the entire northern region, the map shows the "above normal" colour.

As per a very interesting IMD report for December, "the mean maximum and minimum temperatures, for Delhi region, during the month of December were 24.5ºC and 10.2ºC against the normal values of 23.0 ºC and 8.2 ºC respectively. There have been only four years since 1901 when the mean maximum temperatures were more than this year. These were 1953 (26.0ºC), 1931 (25.2ºC), 1943 (25.0ºC) and 1954 (25.0ºC). However, there have been nine years in the past when mean minimum temperatures were more than this year’s mean minimum temperature. The mean temperature (average of mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures) for the month of December 2008 was 17.4 ºC which is second only to 18.0 ºC in 1953. Thus December 2008 was the second warmest December in the recorded history of Delhi."

Seems the next month may see a few severe cold waves, with temperatures 4/6c below normal in the north. South may witness below normal temperatures with the advent of the first few w.d.s of the new year.