Various parts of Udhagamandalam are experiencing severe cold conditions, including frost, with the temperature dropping steadily from the last week of December
Readings
Temperature readings by the horticultural department indicate that the intervening night of last Sunday and Monday was one of the coldest this winter, with the minimum temperature having dropped to 2 degree Celsius at the start of the new year.
“In comparison, the lowest temperature recorded throughout 2016 was 4 degree Celsius,” said G.K. Uma Rani, Deputy Director of Horticulture.
“Areas such as Race Course and Khandal and a few other places in the Nilgiris with plenty of grasslands would have seen lots of frost,” she added.
However, temperature readings from the Indian Institute for Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC), put the temperature at only 4 degrees Celsius on Monday. Scientists at the institute also said that the average winter temperature seemed to be slightly higher this year when compared to previous years.
“Usually, frost begins before December, but this year, it has been delayed and only the last week of December has seen the typical winter cold. So the frost could continue till the second week of January,” said S. Manivannan, Principal Scientist at the IISWC.