New Delhi, Persisting low minimum and maximum temperatures and smog have lent a hand to put a break on the spread of dengue as less number of cases have been reported in the month of November compared to September and October in the national capital New Delhi.

The continuous low temperatures and smog around Diwali have largely stopped the breeding of dengue mosquitoes and as the winter is about to set in, dengue menace would be finally over within a fortnight or so.

Though cases are still being reported but a usual 10-14 days is the incubation period (the time between being exposed to infection and showing first symptoms) for the disease to show up after a person is bitten. So even if smog and change in temperatures have reduced mosquito breeding, cases will continue to be reported for a few more days.

1799 cases of dengue cases have been reported in New Delhi until now including four proving fatal. Dengue mosquito starts breeding just towards the end of the monsoon season as it did this season.

New Delhi, The fall in minimum temperature over the commercial capital Mumbai is expected to come to a gradual halt during the next 48 hours. This would certainly provide relief to Mumbaikars who were reeling under the effect of high maximum temperatures and low minimums. The maximum temperature over Mumbai is recorded to be around 33 degrees while the minimum nosedived by almost four degrees (from 20 to 16) during the last few days.

The winds (easterly) associated with the low pressure area (in the Bay of Bengal) are expected to send moisture and clouds that would impact the prevailing minimum and the maximum temperatures. The cloudiness will block radiation (heat) received from the sun while the same reason would not let the maximum temperatures not rise much.

So, from tomorrow onwards, the fall in the minimum temperature would be arrested and an increasing trend would be witnessed. There would be incursion of moisture from the easterly winds from November 23.

Mumbai is hosting the second test match between England and India between November 23 and November 27 and the weather is expected to be perfect during the first three days of the match. But the players would have to sweat more on the fourth and the fifth days of the match due to the arrival of more moisture and consequent spike in humidity.

New Delhi, Winter games have become more popular in India. Tourists from across the nation and from foreign countries travel to some parts of India to indulge in winter adventure sports.

Here we've selected the top five places in India for winter adventure sports.

Shimla: The capital of Himachal Pradesh along with Kufri, Shilon Bagh and Chail receives snowfall after the third week of December

Manali: A favourite among tourists looking to play along the fresh snow in the Solang Valley

Gulmarg: A better accessible venue, it ranks as India’s most visited ski resort. The snow here is considered one of the finest and skiing is quite the experience here.

Patnitop: Considered a stopover while heading to Jammu, it attracts several tourists looking for a winter thrill.

Kanatal: This all-season destination is 30 kms from Mussoorie, and offers some of the best views in the region.

We're hoping that you plan early on to catch the best of winter this year around.

New Delhi, The comfortable and dry daytime weather makes December a great time to visit north India. The day temperatures remain in the range of 20-21 degree Celsius over New Delhi. Day temperatures in Jaipur, the other major tourist draw in the region, remain in the same range.

The nights are however much colder as the mercury level hovers around 4-8 degrees Celsius. The night can also be greatly enjoyed by arranging a bonfire or spending it in warmth of a pub.

The cities of Delhi and Jaipur have also plenty of options for the sporting types, with polo, golf, croquet and other games being played here in winter.

A wintry day in the lush green parks of the region is a day well spent, notwithstanding a plethora of forts, palaces, museums, zoos and art galleries to visit.

Though one should ensure that the fog lights are working if driving to either of the two.  cities in winter as the region is prone to severe fogs in the season.

New Delhi, A weak northeast monsoon in south Peninsula this year, frail easterly winds and an unhindered flow of the dry and cool northerly winds from the north India has led to an appreciable drop in the minimum temperatures, particularly over Karnataka.

With no or less rain, skies get clearer and radiation increases, thus this pattern of a fall in the night temperatures is seen. However, such a dip in the mercury levels is not particularly new for the people of Karnataka as they felt a similar cold wave last year too.

But the effect of the cold northerly winds has been felt way earlier compared to December last year. This year, the night temperatures fell by 4 to 5 degrees and Bangalore reached a minimum of 13⁰C, which is quite lower than the minimums experienced last year (15⁰C) during November.

What’s even more appalling is that the minimum in Chamarajanagar and Mysore has slipped to a low of 9⁰ and 11⁰C respectively, which is even lower than the minimum temperature in Delhi so far in this season. Such cold wave conditions will continue for the next two to three days in the region and there is no rain predicted for almost a week now.

This is a sweet treat for the locals who have welcomed this cold change in their lives in contrast to the usual wet humid days and have happily taken out their winter wear. This cold wave and no rain situation is not worrying for the farmers too who have already got enough, well distributed rain, from the northeast monsoon in the first few days of November for sowing their oilseed and pulse crops. Night temperatures have fallen by five degrees in parts of Tamil Nadu as well due to the penetration of these chilly northerly winds.

This frequent change in the weather every year, be it a storm or a cold wave, points out to the alarming issue of climate change. We can deal with this issue only by educating ourselves about climate change and following the weather in our region regularly.

New Delhi, So much for the high level meeting of the officials from Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana on Saturday to combat the troublesome smog situation in the capital and the adjoining areas for almost a week. The pollution levels had increased as high as seven times the permissible levels.

It was thus anticipated that the smog levels would increase further after the Diwali celebrations and would bother residents with low visibility and other smog related health irritants. But to everyone’s surprise, the increased wind speed early this morning, completely nullified the pollution levels.

People woke up to a light sunny and a pleasant morning, devoid of any smog. The winds that were calm till 5 am on November 14 picked up speed, reaching 10 kmph and swept away the thick moisture layer encircling entire northwest India. Cyclone Nilam that was responsible for the incursion of these moisture burdened winds to the north, lead to very high levels of smog. The visibility which was low till yesterday at 600 meters, increased to a good of 1.2 km this morning.

The Chief Minister of Delhi says she has already levied a few measures to control the smog levels from rising by charging a fine of Rs 2000 from vehicle owners who do not have pollution under control (PUC) certificate and restricting the entry of too many vehicles from the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana borders. The government has also assured to introduce short and long term measures in the near future to improve the air quality for people.

Coming weeks could be a little tough though, as an approaching Western Disturbance (November 17 onwards) could decrease the wind speeds and increase the chances of fog over the entire northwest. Occurrence of smog is also likely.

While goddess Laxmi did not shower as much wealth this Diwali and the price of rupee fell a few points, the weather gods have definitely shown some mercy! Delhiites have a smog free air to breathe, at least for a few days.

New Delhi, The August 2010 flash flood in Leh that killed 193 persons along with severe damage that rendered hundreds missing and thousands homeless was caused by heavy rains for three consecutive days. The unusual rainfall is attributed to an easterly wind that transported clouds formed high over the Tibetan Plateau to Leh. These clouds also gathered moisture from the Arabian Sea, fed by the southwesterly winds and from the Bay of Bengal through southeasterly winds.

Usually, such a large storm system does not develop as cloud formation ceases during the night. But in this case, cloud formation was fueled by incoming moisture laden winds from three directions (easterly, southeasterly and southwesterly) throughout the night. Average total rainfall over Leh in August is about half-inch. But more than 8 inches of rain was recorded during this 24 hour period.

This event is reminiscent of flooding in the Big Thompson Canyon in Colorado in 1976 and the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1972. In all these cases, large organized clouds gathered high in the mountains and drew moisture up the slope of the mountain into the storms. The resulting heavy rains are uncommon in mountains, where there typically isn't enough moisture to cause such drastic rain. They are also more dangerous than storms in the plains.