Delhi recorded both ‘cold day’ and ‘coldwave’ conditions on Sunday -- a season’s first for either of the two phenomenons -- with strong northwesterly winds taking both the maximum and minimum temperature this winter’s lowest so far.
The Safdarjung weather station, which provides the representational data for Delhi , recorded a high of 16.2 degrees Celsius – five degrees below normal for this time of the season, and the lowest so far, and logged a minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees – three notches below normal and the joint-lowest of the season with December 23.\
Delhi recorded both ‘cold day’ and ‘coldwave’ conditions on Sunday -- a season’s first for either of the two phenomenons -- with strong northwesterly winds taking both the maximum and minimum temperature this winter’s lowest so far.
The Safdarjung weather station, which provides the representational data for Delhi , recorded a high of 16.2 degrees Celsius – five degrees below normal for this time of the season, and the lowest so far, and logged a minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees – three notches below normal and the joint-lowest of the season with December 23.
The minimum fell to as low as 3 degrees Celsius at Ridge station in north Delhi, while it was 3.5 degrees at Ayanagar. Delhi’s lowest maximum was recorded at Mungeshpur, where mercury failed to cross 13.4 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Departement (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Monday as well, forecasting cold day conditions to subside, but isolated parts of Delhi will still see coldwave conditions, it said.
The IMD declares a coldwave in a region, when the minimum temperature is 4.5 degrees or more below the normal mark, or when it drops to 4 degrees Celsius or lower. Both the Ridge (3 degrees) and Ayanagar (3.5 degrees) stations met this criteria on Sunday, but Safdarjung did not.
The IMD classifies it as a cold day when the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees or more below normal, while the minimum is below 10 degrees Celsius. It is classified as a severe cold day when the maximum is 6.5 degrees or more below normal. At stations like Mungeshpur (13.4), Jafarpur (13.7), Palam (14.1), a severe cold day was recorded, with cloudy skies and cold winds not allowing temperature to rise significantly during the day.
This is the first cold day and coldwave for Delhi so far this winter season, with the maximum temperature in particular largely hovering around the normal mark.
A Met department official said Delhi witnessed shallow fog, which went up due to strong surface winds. “This led to a cloud-like presence of fog during the day, and it has kept the maximum below normal. The strong northwesterly winds blowing in Delhi are also extremely cold and led to temperatures dipping rapidly at night,” said the official.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet meteorology said Delhi was likely to witness similar conditions, particularly during night, in the next 24 hours as well, before temperatures begin to gradually rise from December 27 under the influence of a western disturbance. “It has been a combination of cold northwesterly winds and fresh snowfall in the mountains. Only shallow fog is likely in the next few days,” he said.
Prior to Sunday, the lowest maximum temperature in Delhi had been 20 degrees Celsius, which was recorded on Saturday. The minimum has meanwhile remained below the 6-degree mark for the last three days. It was 5.3 degrees on Friday, 5.4 degrees on Saturday and 5.3 degrees once again on Sunday.
IMD forecasts show while the maximum is likely to increase on Monday, and will be around the 19-degree mark, the minimum could dip to 4 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung, with other parts of Delhi recording an even lower minimum temperature.
The strong surface winds also saw Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) improving marginally in the last 24 hours, but remained in the ‘very poor’ category. The AQI was recorded at 319 (very poor) at 7pm as per Central Pollution Control Board’s real-time 24-hour index, while it was 349 (very poor) as per CPCB’s national bulletin on Saturday. Delhi’s air quality index stayed in the very poor zone with a value of 319 at 7pm.
(With inputs from agencies)