Frost sets in Nilgiris, temperature dips to 2 degree Celsius

Frosting has set in, albeit delayed in The Nilgiris with minimum temperature dipping to less than two Degree Celsius in several parts of the hill district.

Although frosting is an annual phenomenon that sets in during November and starts to fade by January, there has been a delay this year.

“Last year too, there was a prolonged delay in the onset of frosting. The temperature is likely to go down further as individual forecasters have predicted zero Degrees Celsius on the eve of New Year,” said a senior official of the Horticulture Department in The Nilgiris.

For the past few days, severe frosting has been experienced in places like Manjur, Government Botanical Garden, Singara and other areas. In a visual delight, the Government Botanical Garden in The Nilgiris could be seen covered with a blanket of frost during the morning hours.

In view of heavy frosting, the horticulture department has taken special efforts to prevent plants from getting dried up in the sprawling garden.

“To prevent the lawn from getting dried up, water is sprinkled twice in the early morning hours from 4 am to 6am and once again in the evening. Still, the impact of frosting could be witnessed on the greenery,” the official added.

Meanwhile, P Balasubramanian, a teaching assistant cum technical officer, Horticultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Ooty said that usually frosting begins, by a gap of at least two weeks after the end of monsoon. “But this year, frosting commenced soon after the end of rains. Also, there has been a huge variation in the day and night temperatures. The day temperature remains high and goes up to 20 Degree Celsius while the night temperature comes down to less than five Degree Celsius on an average. The temperature may dip further in the coming days,” he added.