Bone-chilling cold enters plains from polar system, 'Red Alert' for winter throughout January

Many cities in Rajasthan are expected to experience bone-chilling severe cold throughout January this year. There are indications that such conditions will repeatedly occur until the end of January 2026.

Dense fog in Jaipur: Several cities in Rajasthan are expected to experience severe bone-chilling cold throughout January this year. There are indications that such conditions will repeatedly occur until the end of January 2026. Weather experts have attributed this to a crack in the polar vortex, a ring of polar cold air forming above the North Pole.

This is expected to cause extremely cold air to spread across large parts of the Northern Hemisphere, leading to severe cold conditions in the coming days of January. Consequently, normal life is bound to be affected by cold waves and dense fog.

What is the Polar System?

According to meteorologists, there is a strong ring of cold air above the poles that keeps the cold confined there. When this ring weakens, cold air escapes and reaches other regions. Meteorologists have indicated that such a situation is likely to occur repeatedly in January this year. Its effects are expected to manifest as an increase in the number of Western disturbances in the northeastern parts of the country, heavier snowfall in the mountains, and cold waves in the plains.

Severe Cold Grips Rajasthan

In December, the movement of weak Western disturbances across the state kept the harshness of the cold mild. However, the cold that has descended from the mountains to the plains along with a Western disturbance, has caused havoc in the last two days. In the capital Jaipur, dense fog and biting cold on Tuesday brought normal life to a standstill. In many areas of the city, visibility remained zero until late in the morning, which also slowed down vehicular traffic.

Night temperatures in 5 cities at or below 5 degrees Celsius

The minimum temperature in 5 cities of the state was recorded at 5 degrees Celsius or below last night. Dungarpur recorded the lowest temperature of 3.0 degrees Celsius last night, which was lower than Mount Abu's 4.4 degrees Celsius. Sirohi recorded 4.1, Sri Ganganagar 5.1, Ajmer 5.3, and Pali recorded a minimum temperature of 4.7 degrees Celsius.

Second consecutive cold night in Jaipur

The capital Jaipur experienced its second coldest night of the season consecutively last night. On Monday, Jaipur's minimum temperature was 6.8 degrees Celsius, which remained stable at 6.8 degrees Celsius last night as well. However, residents of the city did not get relief from the biting cold and fog. Dense fog on Tuesday morning disrupted normal life.

Minimum temperatures across the state

According to the bulletin issued by the Meteorological Centre Jaipur, the minimum temperatures recorded last night were: Bhilwara 8.2, Alwar 6.7, Pilani 7.4, Sikar 6.0, Kota 7.7, Chittorgarh 10.6, Dabok 5.3, Anta Baran 7.7, Fatehpur 6.7, Dausa 7.0, Pratapgarh 6.9, Jhunjhunu 7.5 degrees Celsius.
In Western Rajasthan, the minimum temperatures recorded were: Barmer 10.8, Jaisalmer 8.4, Jodhpur 9.9, Phalodi 8.6, Bikaner 8.5, Churu 8.6, Jalore 9.3, and Lunkaransar 8.4 degrees Celsius.