COLD WAVE
- November 29, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Subject: Geography
Context: Delhi and other parts of north India are bracing for near cold wave conditions.
Concept:
- A cold wave is declared when there’s a significant drop in minimum or night time temperature.
- The IMD’s criteria for a cold wave in the plains is that the minimum temperature should be 10 degrees or lower and the departure from normal minimum temperature 4.5 degrees or less for two consecutive days.
What is causing the dip in temperature?
- One of the main reasons is snowfall in high altitude areas north of Delhi, including places in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
- Cold winds blowing from these areas lower temperature across northwest India every winter, including Delhi.