Delhi’s minimum has slipped below 20C (68F) for the second day running as cold air builds unusually early across the north.

This chill follows exceptional early snowfall across the Himalayas, where peaks have been blanketed far earlier and more extensively than in recent years:





That snowpack is now funneling colder air southwards into the plains, helping drive the early-season temperature drop in the likes of Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, and beyond.

The India Meteorological Department says the pattern is set to intensify as La Niña strengthens, bringing stronger surface winds, frequent fog, and heavier snowfall in the hills. The setup points to a colder-than-normal winter ahead, they warn.

A check in with Rutgers shows extensive cover building across much of the Northern Hemisphere (particularly Siberia):




The extent of the cold across Russia is also impressive, with ‘blues’ covering much of the 17,000,000 km2 (6,600,000 square miles) land mass — a setup forecast to persist through October.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/delhi-shivers-as-early-himalayan

Tourism across the Himalayas has been shut down after Cyclone Monta unleashed unseasonably heavy snow across both the Nepali and Tibetan sides of Mount Everest — the second major Himalayan blizzard this month.

The storm, which swept north from the Bay of Bengal October 28, buried roads, downed power lines, and stranded more than 1,500 trekkers stranded as trails disappeared under deep snowdrifts.

Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority confirmed a helicopter crashed in heavy snow near Lobuche, north of Namche Bazaar, while attempting to rescue stranded climbers. The aircraft slid while landing and overturned. The pilot survived and was later rescued.





Authorities have now ordered all climbing and trekking routes closed across the Everest, Annapurna, Manaslu, and Dhaulagiri ranges. While on the Tibetan side, access roads to Base Camp in Tingri County have been sealed since October 28 as ice, drifting snow, and whiteout conditions made travel impossible. Ticket sales for Everest visits have been suspended indefinitely.

Overnight lows are bottoming out at -20C (-4F), with forecasts calling for continued snow through at least October 31.

This level of accumulation typically arrives in late-November/early-December, making it one of the earliest and most intense Himalayan snow events in recent decades — likely record-breaking.

It also follows an early-October blizzard that stranded hundreds of trekkers on the Tibetan slopes near the eastern face of Everest.

This winter is arriving early and with force.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/record-early-snow-closes-mount-everest

Northern and central India continue to shiver through unusually sharp, record-setting November cold.

Mumbai logged its coldest November morning in 13 years on Wednesday as Santacruz dropped to 16.2C (61F) — the city’s coldest low since 2012’s 14.6C (58F).

Deeper cold has struck inland, with Bhopal breaking an 84-year November record, falling to 5.2C (41F) and so beating the 6.1C (43F) from 1941. Rajgarh dipped to 5C (41F). Indore fell to 6.9C (44F), its coldest November reading in 25 years.

Across Madhya Pradesh, 15 cities held below 10C (50F) Wednesday — a rare feat. While across Rajasthan, 16 cities dipped below 10C, and more than half the state is now under a cold-wave warning with snowfall in surrounding hills feeding the chill.

Chhattisgarh is also running below average as well. Here, Ambikapur logged 7.3C (45F), ranking among its coldest November readings since records began in 1970.

The synoptic driver is straightforward: persistent northerly and north-westerly winds, clear overnight skies, and fresh Himalayan snowfall. The cold is expected to persist through at least Nov 23 before a Bay of Bengal low briefly disrupts the pattern.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/cold-records-from-mumbai-to-madhya

India is posting some biting lows of late.

In the north, Kashmir remains in an early deep freeze, with Srinagar falling to -4.4C (24.1F), its coldest November night since 2007; Qazigund hitting -4C (24.8F), also the coldest since 2007, and Kupwara logging -4.4C, its lowest since 2009.

Shopian was the coldest in the Valley at -6.5C (20.3F), with widespread sub-zero readings across the region’s south and north. Zojila Pass saw -16C (3.2F) for the fourth consecutive day. Ladakh joined the freeze: Kargil posted -9.5C (14.9F) and Leh -8.6C (16.5F).

Far to the south, Odisha registered a historic low: Jharsuguda tanked to 8.1C (46.6F), its lowest November temperature in 71 years of records, breaking the 8.4C from 1970.

The IMD expects the cold wave to persist.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/fierce-cold-sweeps-india-greenland

Heavy snow has disrupted life across Kashmir, with areas reporting 5 ft (152 cm).

In Karnah Valley, Kupwara district, the snow line has collapsed to under 1,000 m (3,280 ft) — a rare occurrence for the Seemari–Teetwal belt, which typically remains snow-free. Accumulation exceeded 2 in (5 cm) — the first since 2005.

Muzaffarabad, at around 740 m (2,400 ft), today logged snowfall for the first time in a decade:




Snowfall across Kashmir has been exceptional, with the higher elevations been buried.

Heerpora and surrounding areas in Shopian are under feet, with access routes severely affected and normal activity halted.

Snow has also disrupted operations at Srinagar Airport, with cancellations mounting.

The depth, persistence, and unusually low snowline point to a sustained cold regime pressing deep into the western Himalayas. And there’s more to come.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/northern-india-buried-eastern-europes