Delhi clocks ‘cold day’ at isolated pockets for second day in a row

Cold day conditions persist in Delhi with maximum temperatures at 16.7°C, below normal, while fog and chilly winds continue. AQI shows slight improvement.

New Delhi

Delhi logged a maximum temperature of 16.7°C on Wednesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Cold day conditions continued to be recorded at isolated pockets of the Capital for a second day in a row, as upper-level fog and icy-cold northwesterly winds kept the maximum temperature at 16.7°C on Wednesday—marginally higher than the 15.7°C recorded the day before but still two degrees below normal.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that similar to Tuesday, two stations in the city, at Palam and Lodhi Road, recorded “cold day” conditions. It predicted a rise in the maximum temperature by a degree on Thursday, albeit with no significant overall change, continuing the yellow alert in place that was issued the day before.

Met officials said shallow fog was witnessed on Wednesday, with visibility down to around 800 metres at Safdarjung and 600 metres at Palam. Although surface-level fog was mainly shallow, it persisted at the upper levels. “We are recording consistent northwesterly winds, which, alongside the fog, are not allowing the maximum to rise. While a few places saw sunshine, it was not strong enough,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet.

The IMD classifies it as a “cold day” when the minimum temperature is below 10°C and the departure of maximum temperature from normal is 4.5°C or more. It is a “severe cold day” when the maximum is 6.5°C or more below normal. Both Palam and Lodhi Road weather stations met this criterion, recording departures of -4.8°C and -4.7°C from normal, respectively.

The IMD has forecasted moderate to dense fog in the Capital and upper-level fog to persist across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) region on Thursday. On Wednesday, the lowest maximum was 13.9°C, recorded at Palam, followed by 15.9°C, recorded at both Ridge and Ayanagar stations.

The minimum on Wednesday was 8.6°C, which was two degrees below normal. This meant the difference between maximum and minimum temperature was only around 8°C.

Experts said that while the temperature typically hits the maximum level between 2.30pm and 5.30pm, the temperature has remained below 10°C for the majority of the rest of the time since Tuesday. The temperature at 2.30pm on Tuesday was 15.2°C, which fell to 12.8°C by 5.30pm, and then to 9.4°C by 8.30am. It remained below the 10°C threshold for the next 12 hours, only rising to 12.2°C by 11.30am.

Experts said the cold will intensify in north India until January 15.

Navdeep Dahiya, an amateur weatherman said that with no obstruction in the form of a western disturbance expected till January 15, similar conditions should prevail, with single-digit maximums expected in Punjab, Haryana, northwest Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

“On Wednesday, multiple stations in northern India narrowly missed a single-digit maximum, hovering between 10-12°C. Wind chill factor is leading to bone chilling cold in evening and these conditions are expected to intensify further on Thursday,” he said, predicting a maximum of 12-15°C for Delhi.

“The minimum may not fall like 2019, but it should still fall to a range between 3-4°C,” Dahiya said.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality improved marginally and was in the upper-end of the “poor” category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 289 on Wednesday, a slight improvement from the AQI of 310 (“very poor”) recorded on Tuesday. The air quality forecasts by the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS) show “very poor” AQI on Thursday.