Delhi logs lowest min temp since 1962 for first half of Oct

Delhi’s coolest day in the first half of the month before this was on October 12, 1962, when the night-time temperature dipped to 15.5°C

Winter continued to make early inroads into the national capital on Thursday, when the minimum temperature fell to 16.4°C, a three-degree drop from the previous day and the lowest the city’s mercury has been in the first half of October in 61 years, showed data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Clear skies and northwesterly winds have helped keep Delhi cooler than usual for much of the week. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Delhi’s coolest day in the first half of the month before this was on October 12, 1962, when the night-time temperature dipped to 15.5°C.

The minimum temperature is likely to remain around 17°C on Friday as well, said the Met department, but added that it may climb marginally over the weekend, when showers are likely to soak parts of the city.

Clear skies and northwesterly winds have helped keep Delhi cooler than usual for much of the week and the temperature has plunged six degrees in just three days.

Delhi’s minimum temperature was 24.7°Con Monday, 22.7°C on Tuesday and 19.4°C on Tuesday.

On the flip side, the clear skies helped keep the day warm, with a wide gulf between the maximum and temperature on Thursday as well, when the city’s day-time mercury was 34.7°C.

IMD scientist Kuldeep Srivastava said at this time of the year, the gap between maximum and minimum temperature can be wide, due to clear sky conditions. “The absence of moisture means there are hardly any clouds and so days are fairly warm, but nights are cold as the same heat is lost back into the atmosphere fairly quickly,” he said.

Temperatures in the Capital usually dip below the 17°C mark towards the third week of October. Last year, this happened on October 20 (16.9°C), in 2021 on October 21 (16°C), in 2020 on October 16 (16.4°C)and in 2019 on October 23 (16.5°C).

Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist at IMD, said a western disturbance had held off the drop in temperatures till Tuesday.

“Till Tuesday, we still had the impact of a western disturbance prevailing across northwest India. As its impact reduced, the moisture in the atmosphere also went away and we have been recording clear skies once again, which allow faster surface heating during the day and equally fast loss of heat at night, as there are no clouds to trap this heat,” said Srivastava.

The drop will halt briefly on Saturday and Sunday, when a western disturbance is likely to shroud the region in some cloud cover, said IMD. Delhi, which has so far seen a dry October, may even get some rain, added the agency.

“The western disturbance will mainly impact Jammu & Kashmir and gradually expand towards Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). On October 15, we can expect some rain in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. By October 16, rain will be even more widespread, covering Haryana, Delhi-NCR, north Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh as well,” said an IMD official.

This may push the minimum temperature over 20°C on Sunday, said the official cited above.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president at the private forecaster Skymet, said it was unusual to see such a dip this early, especially because there haven’t been any significant meteorological changes over the past few days.

“The only two components impacting the region are cold northwesterly winds and clear skies. The same conditions were there on Wednesday too, but localised factors may have also combined to make the minimum dip,” he said.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 220 (poor) -- the highest so far this winter season. In comparison, the AQI had been 193 (moderate) on Wednesday and 180 (moderate) on Tuesday.

System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said on Thursday that the contribution of stubble fires in Delhi’s pollution was recorded at 3%.