Delhiites Shiver In Cold As Mercury Drops To Below 4°C

Highlights:

• Icy cold winds swept national capital as the mercury dropped to 3.6°C
• IMD stated the minimum temperature would stay in the range of 3-5°C during the coming 3 days
• IMD also stated the temperature would only increase by 2-3°C after 1^st of January

On Monday evening, people in Delhi found themselves shivering in cold as icy winds swept through the national capital as the mercury dropped down to 3.6 °C said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The Safdarjung Observatory that provides the representative data for the city, recorded a low of 3.6 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature was recorded at 5.6 degrees Celsius on Monday. The weather stations at Ayanagar and Lodhi Road in Delhi recorded a low of 2.6 degrees Celsius and 2.7 degrees Celsius respectively, said IMD.

In a bulletin, the IMD said that after the passage of the western disturbance and under the influence of the consequent strengthening of the cold and dry northwesterly/ northerly lower-level winds the minimum temperatures in the Northwest India could fall down by 3-5°C over the Northwest India in the coming 3 days i.e. 29^th to 31^st December.

IMD, in its bulletin, said that there would be a slight rise in the temperature by 2-3°C after 1^st of January.

In the plains, the IMD said, the cold wave will hit if the mercury dips to 4°C and added that a severe cold wave will be declared if the minimum temperature drops to 2 °C or lower.

Head of the Regional Forecasting Centre of the IMD, Kuldeep Srivastava, said that a western disturbance has led to “scattered to fairly widespread” snowfall in the Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand regions.

Also Read: Prime Minister Modi Launches NCMC, “One Nation, One Mobility Card”

He added that owing to the cold and dry northerly/ northwesterly winds from the western Himalayas which have been barrelling through the plains has been the chief cause of the drop in the minimum temperature in north India.

On the 20^th of December, the Safdarjung Observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 3.4 °C which has been the lowest recorded temperature this season, so far.

On Tuesday morning, the Air Quality recorded in Delhi was in the “Poor” category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) at around 9:00 AM was 237.

Delhi’s 24 average AQI for past 6 days is as follows:

• Monday: 253
• Sunday: 396
• Saturday: 337
• Friday: 357
• Thursday: 423
• Wednesday: 433

The AQI classifications are as follows:

• Good: 0 – 50
• Satisfactory: 51 – 100
• Moderate: 101 – 200
• Poor: 201 – 300
• Very Poor: 301 – 400
• Severe: 401 – 500