{"id":91913,"date":"2026-03-10T10:49:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T05:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=91913"},"modified":"2026-03-10T11:57:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T06:27:29","slug":"deficient-winter-rains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/deficient-winter-rains\/","title":{"rendered":"Deficient Winter Rains Trigger Early Summer in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Deficient Winter Rains Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several regions of north and west India experienced an unusually early rise in temperatures as the cool conditions of February quickly gave way to abnormally warm weather.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Temperatures were 8\u201313\u00b0C above normal, reaching levels that qualify as heat-wave conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although a similar pattern occurred three years ago, such early onset of intense heat is uncommon.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Western Disturbances: Key Winter Weather System<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Western Disturbance is an <\/span><b>eastward-moving weather system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that originates over the <\/span><b>Mediterranean Sea<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and surrounding regions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is carried by westerly winds and travels long distances before reaching the Indian subcontinent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the system moves towards northwest India through Pakistan, it gathers moisture.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When this moist air collides with the Himalayan mountains, it rises and cools, resulting in cloud formation, rainfall, and snowfall.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Importance for India\u2019s Winter Climate<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Western Disturbances are most active between December and February.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0It serves as the primary source of winter rain and snowfall for northern states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Haryana.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recent shifts in the pattern of Western Disturbances have led to reduced snowfall and rainfall in Himalayan regions, contributing to unusual weather patterns in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Unusually Warm March Across India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-meteorological-department\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>India Meteorological Department (IMD)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> had predicted <\/span><b>above-normal day temperatures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in western Himalayan regions, central India, and peninsular India for March, along with more heatwave days in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These forecasts materialised within the first week of March, with several regions experiencing unusually high temperatures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, Himachal Pradesh recorded temperatures above 25\u00b0C, which is rare for March since summer in Shimla usually peaks in May\u2013June and heatwaves are uncommon.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar conditions were observed in Jammu &amp; Kashmir and Ladakh.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the IMD, temperatures are expected to remain high for a few days but may <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">decline with the arrival of a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/western-disturbances-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Western Disturbance<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a winter weather system originating near Iran that brings moisture from the Mediterranean region.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Dry Winter Behind Early Heat<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The unusually warm conditions are partly due to a dry winter season.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">February was the <\/span><b>third driest<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> since 1901, with all-India rainfall in January\u2013February only 16 mm, about 60% below normal. Both rainfall and snowfall remained significantly low.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This occurred because of fewer <\/span><b>Western Disturbances<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> since November 2025, which normally bring winter precipitation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, the <\/span><b>absence of wind convergence between<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> westerly and easterly winds, which usually carries moisture to central and northern India, reduced rainfall further.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dry winters often lead to an early onset of summer heat<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as the lack of soil moisture allows land to heat up more quickly, resulting in higher temperatures.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Rising Temperatures Threaten Rabi Crops<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sudden increase in temperatures is likely to affect standing rabi crops such as mustard, wheat, gram, groundnut, sesame, sorghum, and safflower, along with vegetables like potato and fruits such as apples.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmers have been advised to increase irrigation to maintain soil moisture, but this could place additional pressure on already stressed local water resources.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-climate\/behind-an-early-summer-is-a-lack-of-winter-rains-10573814\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatoday.in\/science\/story\/freezing-cold-rain-fog-extreme-winters-wester-disturbance-india-weather-phenomenon-climate-change-2853546-2026-01-18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deficient winter rains in India have caused an early summer and heatwave conditions. This article explains how deficient winter rains, weak Western Disturbances, and dry soil increase temperatures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":91944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[5972,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-91913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-deficient-winter-rains","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91969,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91913\/revisions\/91969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}