Explained: Why Winters Set In Late

Winter has finally set in, at least six weeks later than normal. And now that it is here, it is expected to stay a while. Scientists say when winters set in late, they usually linger for longer. They also say that February this year is likely to be colder than it usually is.

For all of December and the first two weeks of January, temperatures in most parts of India were substantially higher than normal. In some places, the departures were as much as 5-8 degrees more than normal. Besides, the small amount of rainfall that takes place in late December and early January, which brings the chill in the air, was almost absent. Winter rainfall in the country as a whole at the start of the year was about 85 per cent below normal. See more