Prof Sunitha, head of the department of Oceanography and Meteorology at Andhra University, said, “La Niña is slightly favoured to persist through December-January-February but is likely to remain weak.”
Visakhapatnam:Andhra Pradesh might experience severe cold and cold wave conditions during January and February due to the La Nina conditions.
Prof Sunitha, head of the department of Oceanography and Meteorology at Andhra University, said, “La Niña is slightly favoured to persist through December-January-February but is likely to remain weak.”
A weak La Niña typically leads to slightly cooler northwest India, near-normal temperatures over peninsular India, and slightly above normal rainfall over Tamil Nadu.
“We will have cold waves but not so intense. Night time minimum temperature will be lower than normal,’’ she told Deccan Chronicle on Monday.
IMD operational forecasts showed areas of below-normal minimum temperatures over many parts of India in late November–early December and ongoing vigilance for cold-wave pockets.
The Met department also noted active thunderstorm/wind chances for parts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema in late November.
As per the IMD, a cold wave is predicted when the minimum temperature of a station is 10 degree Celsius or less for plains, and zero degree Celsius or less for hilly regions. If such conditions are met for three consecutive days, then a cold wave event is declared.
Notably, AP witnessed a decrease in cold wave days during the winter over the past decade. The state has not experienced a single cold wave day in the last three years (2021, 2022 and 2023). AP recorded 20 cold wave days in 2011 and 16 cold wave days in 2012.
This year, on November 18, G Madugula recorded the season’s lowest temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, Munchingput 5.8, Lambasingi 6.8, Dumbriguda 7.8 and Araku Valley 8.3. However, the temperature shot up in a week and all these centers recorded 15 degrees average.
