Winter bonfires will burn bright in the country in the next 48 hours. But Odisha has to wait for nearly a week to witness the biting cold. As many as 10-states in the country, including Odisha, will record a sharp drop in mercury by as high as 7 degrees Celsius from the normal minimum temperature seven to eight days hence.
As per the IITM (Indian Institute of Tropical Management) multimodal ensemble prediction, states like Madhya Pradesh, north and central Chhattisgarh, eastern UP, western and southern Odisha, west Jharkhand, southern and central Bihar will be recording a sharp fall in minimum temperature of 7 deg C vis-a-vis the normal minimum temperature in December during the period of December 16-22.
The MME predicts mercury dropping to below 4 deg C in north Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and western UP. Frosty conditions will sweep Madhya Pradesh, Bundelkhand (UP), eastern Uttar Pradesh, northern and Central Chhattisgarh and western Jharkhand where the minimum temperature will hover below 8 deg C during the period of Dec 16-22.
However, the mercury will shoot up a bit before Christmas 2021 across the country and will remain so till December end, except for the northern Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and western UP.
Winter In India
As per the ACCESS-G3 model prediction, while the northwest Indian states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, places in Rajasthan like Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Churu, Bikaner, Jhunjunum and adjoining places in Haryana will record minimum temperature of below 10 deg C from Dec 9.
The mercury will drop to around 10 deg C in other places of Rajasthan, UP, Delhi and MP on Dec 9. Whereas the minimum temperature is predicted at 10 deg C for other states excluding Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and southern peninsular states, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
The minimum temperature at many places in Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, UP, MP will drop to around 8 deg c on December 10. Western Gujarat will record a minimum temperature of 12 deg C. Minimum temperature in north Maharashtra will drop to 14 deg C.
On December 11, many places in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, northern Madhya Pradesh and some places in UP will record a minimum temperature of 6-8 deg C. The mercury will drop to around 10 deg C in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
On Sunday (Dec 12), while the minimum temperature in northwest India will drop to around 6 deg C, other north Indian states will see mercury nose-diving to 8 deg C. States like Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand will record a minimum temperature of around 10 deg C.
On Dec 13, states in northwest, north and central India are predicted to measure their morning mercury at around 8 deg C. The biting cold is predicted to continue in the above states till December 22.
Odisha December
Even as the mercury will witness a freefall in the north and central Indian states from this weekend, the nip in Odisha air will set in from December 11, when the minimum temperature in western and northern Odisha will drop below 16 deg C.
However, a chill will envelop the State from December 16 onwards when the minimum temperature in northern and western Odisha will drop to around 12 deg C.
On December 20, the whole of the State will be witnessing bone stuttering cold as the mercury will drop to around 11-12 deg C, except the coastal region where the minimum temperature will be around 14-16 deg C.
The State capital and neighbouring city Cuttack are predicted to record a minimum temperature of around 14 deg C on Dec 20.
As per the IITM-MME prediction, a cold wave will sweep Odisha from Dec 16 and last up to Dec 22. The mercury is predicted to go northbound around Christmas time.