Page 4 - Winter

Delhi colder than Dharamsala; fog blots out sun in parts of northwest India

The national capital shivered on a severe cold day on Tuesday as its minimum temperature fell below that of Dehradun, Dharamsala and Nainital. With a high windchill factor -- a measure of the rate of heat loss from skin that is exposed to the air -- in play, the weather office predicted a cold day. The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, logged a minimum temperature of 5.6 degrees Celsius -- a notch below normal. The maximum temperature was predicted to settle around 16 degrees Celsius. In comparison, the minimum temperature in Dehradun was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius, Dharamsala at 6.2 degrees Celsius and Nainital at 7.2 degrees Celsius. Meteorologists attributed the sharp drop in day temperatures to frigid north westerly winds barrelling through the plains and reduced sunshine due to foggy weather. Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change) at Skymet Weather, said a western disturbance led to a fresh spell of snowfall in the mountains

NY Guv requests for emergency declaration over 'historic' winter storm

New York City has so far recorded 28 weather-related deaths, while the region around Buffalo has been worst affected

Frigid monster storm across US claims at least 34 lives, advisories issued

Millions of people hunkered down against a deep freeze Sunday to ride out the winter storm that has killed at least 29 people across the United States and is expected to claim more lives after trapping some residents inside houses with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. The scope of the storm has been nearly unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60 per cent of the US population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, the National Weather Service said. Travellers' weather woes are likely to continue, with hundreds of flight cancellations already and more expected after a bomb cyclone when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and ..

Winter storm batters US power, snarling Christmas travel plans

A battering winter storm left nearly 2 million homes and businesses without power across the United States on Saturday, as millions more people were left to worry how the prospect of further outages would effect holiday and travel plans. The blinding blizzards, freezing rain and frigid cold that enveloped much of the country knocked out power to 1.7 million households and businesses, while major electricity grid operator warned the 65 million people it serves across the eastern US that rolling blackouts might be required. Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said power plants are having difficulty operating in the frigid weather and has asked residents to refrain from unnecessary use of electricity. It issued an emergency call for conservation system-wide - asking residents in 13 states to set thermostats lower than usual, to postpone use of major appliances like stoves and dishwashers and to turn off nonessential lights. Commercial and industrial power users have also been asked

Foggy morning in Delhi, visibility drops to 400 m; road, rail traffic hit

Fog cloaked Delhi on Wednesday morning, lowering visibility to 400 metres and affecting road and rail traffic. A Railways spokesperson said around 18 trains are running late by one-and-a-half to five hours. Operations at the Delhi airport remained normal, an official said. On Tuesday night, three flights were returned or diverted to the Delhi airport due to bad weather in Chandigarh, Varanasi and Lucknow, he said. The Palam airport logged the lowest visibility level of 400 metres at 2:30 am. Visibility dropped to 500 metres at the Safdarjung airport at 5:30 am, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, between 51 and 200 metres is dense fog, 201 and 500 metres is moderate fog, and 501 and 1,000 is shallow fog. The Safdarjung Observatory, the primary weather station in Delhi, recorded a minimum temperature of 7.1 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal. The maximum temperature is likely to sett

32 trains cancelled due to poor visibility in Moradabad, many delayed

On Tuesday, several trains were reported to be running late by a few hours due to poor visibility induced by fog.According to CPRO Northern Railway, Bhagalpur-Anand Vihar VikramShalla and Barauni-New Delhi special are running late by five hours.While Rajendranagar-New Delhi Rajdhani and Rajendranagar-New Delhi Sampoorna Kranti are running late by 3 hours.Officials added that Banaras-New Delhi Superfast, Islampur-New Delhi Magadh Express and Dibrugarh- New Delhi Rajdhani Express were late by two hours each.While Saharsa-New Delhi Vaishali Express and Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani and Darbhanga-New Delhi Clone Express are late by 3:30, 1:30 and 2:34 hours respectively.According to officials, on Tuesday more than 32 trains were cancelled in Moradabad due to dense fog leaving passengers upset.Hetram Singh CRS Moradabad Railway Station said, "More than 32 trains have been cancelled by railways due to poor visibility induced by fog in Moradabad. The fog was very dense till 10:30 am on Tuesday.

Ukraine to get $1 bn from partners to go through winter season: PM Shmyhal

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said that Ukraine will get $1 billion from its partners to go through the winter cold season, the government press service reported

Over 20 mn Pakistanis rely on underfunded floods aid as winter sets in: UN

Even though about 2.6 million people received food assistance through the UN and its partners, OCHA said that as winter arrives, more resources are urgently needed

Blanket rule for winter: What you need to be covered for the season

The market has multitude of choices: pick a blanket that will last long and is not cumbersome

Swedes may face 'even worse' energy situation next winter: Expert

The energy situation will be even worse next winter in Sweden, an expert from the Swedish Energy Agency warned.

European Union's medicines regulator warns of Covid spike in winter

"This virus is maintaining a fast pace in its evolution and new subvariants of Omicron such as BQ.1.1 and its offsprings are on the rise and replacing Omicron BA.5"

Harsh winter awaits displaced families in Ukraine, Afghanistan: UNHCR

Many displaced families will have no option but to choose between food and warmth as they struggle to heat their shelters, source warm clothing, and cook hot meals, according to UNHCR.

Snowfall, rains in higher reaches of Kashmir bring in early winter

Snowfall in higher reaches of Kashmir, including popular tourist destinations like Gulmarg and Sonamarg, and rains in plains brought wintry conditions earlier than usual in the valley, officials said on Thursday. "There was significant snowfall in many areas of Kashmir including Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Gurez, and Karnah during the intervening night," the officials said. The officials said more than two inches of snow had accumulated in the Gulmarg bowl while the snowfall was heavier in higher reaches of the valley. They said even the Zabarwan mountain range in the city had received traces of snowfall during the night. Srinagar city and other areas of the valley received moderate rainfall since the early hours of Thursday, bringing down the temperature by several degrees. People have slipped into winter wear like sweaters and heavy jackets earlier than usual. The early snowfall has brought cheer to the faces of tourists who have arrived here to escape the pollution caused by Diwali cra

Americans to pay the most in 25 years to stay warm during this winter

Prices for natural gas and distillate -- which includes heating oil -- are both seen rising nearly 30% this winter

Winter sets in as higher reaches of Uttarakhand receive heavy snowfall

The last outpost near the China border in the Darma Valley of Uttarakhand received the third snowfall of this season

California braces for another dry winter as severe Western drought drags on

The past three years have been California's driest on record, a streak unlikely to break this winter, state officials said Monday. The official water year concluded Friday, marking an end to a period that saw both record rainfall in October and the driest January-to-March period in at least a century. Scientists say such weather whiplash is likely to become more common as the planet warms. It will take more than a few winter storms to help the state dig out of drought. This is our new climate reality, and we must adapt, Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said in a statement. Her comments came ahead of expected remarks Monday by state water officials about what to expect in the months ahead. The water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, so that the rainiest winter months are recorded together. Snow that falls in California's mountains typically provides one-third of the state's annual water supply, but last year snow levels were far below average by th

Delhi govt launches 15-point winter action plan to combat air pollution

The action plan includes the installation of 233 anti-smog guns and at least 150 mobile anti-smog guns

Germany well-placed on energy to get through winter: Olaf Scholz

Germany is well-placed to get through this winter with enough energy thanks to efforts to shore up supplies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday, dismissing criticism from the opposition. Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz charged in parliament that Scholz's three-party coalition lacks any strategic thinking and assailed a decision this week to stick in principle to a long-held plan to shut down Germany's last three nuclear power plants at the end of this year. The government, he said, may be damaging German companies irreparably. An unusually combative Scholz responded that his coalition has worked since it took office in December to prepare for problems that ministers from Merz's party in the previous government failed to anticipate. He pointed to a decision to require filling natural gas storage facilities for the fuel used to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry. Those facilities are now over 86% full, at a time when Russia has cut off gas supplies ..

Rolling power cuts 'possible' for companies this winter: French PM

However, she noted that a mechanism of right to consume would allow companies to exchange their cuts

LNG traders absorb huge losses as supply outages hampers European store

Major energy traders are taking hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as they scramble to plug a LNG supply gap after several outages hampered efforts to fill European storage