PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is likely to experience a shorter winter this year due to oceanic weather conditions causing the temperature to be slightly warmer this time around, say meteorologists.

According to weather pundits, the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans are behaving `normal` with their temperature on the warmer side.

`All the three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific and Indian) are behaving normal at this point in time, a phenomenon that happens rarely,` Mushtaq Ali Khan, director at the Met Office, Peshawar, told Dawn.

He said variations in the oceans` weather pattern caused changes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and surrounding areas.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa experienced below normal rains this December and the dry spell is predicted to continue until the second or third week of January 2014, causing dense fog forsome days.

Similarly, Peshawar and surrounding areas also recorded less colder temperatures this December as, according to officials, temperature has been on the higher side by around one centigrade on several days.

According to Dr Mohammad Hanif, an Islamabad-based senior meteorologist, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will experience a `dry` first half of the ongoing winter with the most rains likely to fall after January 15.

This December, Peshawar has received 1.2 millimetres rains so far, showing a sharp decline in showers compared to the previous year`s when the city had recorded 77.5 millimetres rainfall.

Based on the 30 years official record, the average rainfall in Peshawar in December comes to 20 millimetres.

`Most of the current December has gone dry in Peshawar and we don`t see rains fall in the first two weeks of the next month as well,` said Mr Mushtaq.

The data compiled by the local Met Office reflects several other regional centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with below normal rains this December though good rains were reported last month.

Saidu Sharif in Swat district is another Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area, which has recorded sharp decline in rainfallthis December.

The Met Office has recorded around 1.4 millimetres rain in the area in December until now unlike last December when 75.4 millimetres was reported.

Rainfall data collected from Dir and Dera Ismail Khan shows the same pattern.

As a result, several areas in the province have seen dense fog on most nights and diminished sunshine on some days during the current month.

`It is a phenomenon that happens when you have high pressure, Alamzeb, a Peshawar-based senior meteorologist, said, adding that several areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were in the grip of high pressure: moisture sinks at night.

Mr Mushtaq said dense fog would envelop Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan and some other areas in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the next 20 days due to the delayed rains.

The foggy days, he added, would end after rainfall in the third week of next month.

According to the Met Office director, Mardan, Nowshera, and parts of Swabi along the Motorway are likely to experience another round of intense foggy days in the next few days.