New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS): With clear skies and change of wind direction, the National Capital Region (NCR) has now officially moved past the winter.

According to IMD, the mercury will climb up in the coming days with just a slight dip in temperature forecasted post February 20, which will soon return back to the warmer side within a day or two.

Attributing change of winds as the prime reason for the rise in mercury, IMD's Kuldeep Srivastava said, "Earlier NCR was experiencing winds from mountains regions, while now the wind direction has changed and capital is experiencing winds from Rajasthan side."

Srivastava added, "Clear skies have helped the sunlight to pass through which has helped the temperature to rise, while the winds have also started to come from Rajasthan side aiding the climb in mercury," said Srivastava, head of the regional meteorological centre at IMD, New Delhi.

He added that the only time mercury might witness a dip is after February 20 when a western disturbance may cause snowfall in mountain areas like Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, while the plains in Punjab and Haryana might witness light to normal rain.

"The maximum temperature in NCR has been 25-26 degree Celsius, but after the western disturbance the temperature might come down by a degree or two. Only for a day or maximum two days," he said.