Tuesday, February 18, 2014

“Western Disturbances” to blame for the extra chill in the air

GANGTOK, 17 Feb: The ‘extratropical storm’ originating in the Mediterranean, that brings sudden winter rain and snow to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, called the Western Disturbance is behind the sudden dip in temperatures for the past few days.
The Western Disturbance has moved towards East India, leaving a trough line in the foothills of the Himalayas. The cyclonic circulation will persist over the northeastern states for another 24 hours and move away thereafter.
The Western Disturbance is a non-monsoon precipitation pattern driven by the Westerlies. The moisture in these storms usually originates over the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Extratropical storms are a global, rather than a localized, phenomena with moisture usually carried in the upper atmosphere (unlike tropical storms where it is carried in the lower atmosphere). In the case of India, moisture is sometimes shed as rain when the storm system encounters the Himalayas.
This is what is causing the rain and the cold we are experiencing here in Sikkim. However, it is expected that temperatures will rise in the coming days. Expect pretty cloudy weather and some more rain tomorrow though. Interestingly, despite the chill that it brings with it the Western Disturbances are important to the development of the Rabi crop in North India.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Readers are invited to comment on, criticise, run down, even appreciate if they like something in this blog. Comments carrying abusive/ indecorous language and personal attacks, except when against the people working on this blog, will be deleted. It will be exciting for all to enjoy some earnest debates on this blog...