Ghaziabad/Noida: With the day temperature plummeting by almost 10 degrees in Delhi-NCR over the last two days, the Ghaziabad district administration Tuesday staggered the opening time for schools for up to class 12 from December 18. Officials said schools will function from 9.30am to 3pm until further orders.
“The timings will be applicable to all schools, irrespective of boards under which they come. The decision has been taken due to the prevailing winter chill. We will review the timings again once the temperature becomes normal,” Ravi Dutt, the district inspector of schools (Ghaziabad), said.
The chill is likely to get worse with officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting very light rain on December 21-22.
The icy northerly winds, couples with haze blocking the sunlight, made Tuesday the coldest day since 1997 with a maximum temperature of 12.2 degrees Celsius.The conditions will continue for another two days with certain areas around Noida likely to experience ‘a severe cold day’ on Wednesday, IMD said.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature hovered around 12.2 degrees Celsius, 10 notches below the season’s average, against 12.9 degrees a day earlier. The minimum temperature was 10.4 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season’s average, against 10.2 degrees a day earlier.
“Today’s day temperature of 12.2 degrees is the second lowest since 1997, the lowest being 11.3 degrees, on December 28, 1997. Its due to the strong and cold north-westerly winds coming from western Himalayan regions and a layer of low clouds stopping sunlight from reaching the ground. Conditions will persist on Wednesday as well,” Kuldeep Srivastava, head of Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, New Delhi, said.
{{/usCountry}}“Today’s day temperature of 12.2 degrees is the second lowest since 1997, the lowest being 11.3 degrees, on December 28, 1997. Its due to the strong and cold north-westerly winds coming from western Himalayan regions and a layer of low clouds stopping sunlight from reaching the ground. Conditions will persist on Wednesday as well,” Kuldeep Srivastava, head of Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, New Delhi, said.
{{/usCountry}}A day is considered ‘cold ’ when the maximum temperature (excluding mountain regions) is below 15 degrees Celsius. “The mercury will be lowest during early morning hours (around 6am). The icy cold winds will continue for two more days. There will also be moderate to dense fog during the morning hours. The conditions may change after Friday due to rain. But the minimum temperature will fall,” Mahesh Palawat, director private weather forecasting agency Skymet, said.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) of Noida on Tuesday, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 211 against 227 a day earlier, both considered ‘poor’. The AQI of Ghaziabad was 238 against 260 a day earlier, both under ‘poor’ category.
According to the System for Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), the high surface winds will slow down by December 19 leading to a slight drop in air quality.
“High surface winds are forecasted till December 18 night. A decrease in wind speed is forecast for December 19, therefore AQI is likely to deteriorate to higher end of poor to lower end of very poor category. On December 20, AQI may further deteriorate to very poor category,” Safar forecast said.