Delhi shivers for sixth consecutive day, IMD says relief likely soon

Met dept has said the cold is likely to abate in the next 24 hours, followed by rain over several cities in northwest India between January 21 and 23.

Parts of Delhi recorded cold day conditions for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday and overcast skies and low clouds hung over the city even as India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that the cold is likely to abate during the next 24 hours followed by a rain over Delhi and other cities in northwest India between January 21 and 23.

People huddle around a bonfire on a cold winter evening at Nizamuddin, on Tuesday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

Delhi recorded a drop in the maximum temperature on Tuesday with Safdarjung, Delhi’s base observatory, recording a high of 15.4 degrees – four notches below this time of the year. It was 16.1 degrees on Monday.

Jafarpur was yet again Delhi’s coldest location, with a maximum of 12.8 degrees. IMD said that fog at the upper-level of the atmosphere that is currently stretching across the entire northern plains is taking longer to dissipate, and Delhi may record a similar weather on Wednesday as well.

“We are expecting cold day conditions over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan to last for 24 hours, and then abate gradually as the wind direction changes to northwesterly and then to easterly. But cold day conditions will intensify over Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where its been very cold. They are likely to have cold day for another three days and dense fog also. Due to approaching western disturbance there may cloudy days from January 22 to 24 when again low day temperatures may be recorded. This January we have been seeing extremely low maximum temperatures over a vast region,” said RK Jenamani, senior scientist, national weather forecasting centre.

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. While this criteria wasn’t met at Safdarjung weather station, recordings at Palam, Narela and Jafarpur stations qualified for it being classified a cold day.

During this last six days, Safdarjung has recorded the lowest maximum of 14.8 degrees on Sunday -- the same day when the maximum dropped to 10.7 at Narela station.

“For Wednesday, the maximum is expected to be around 16 degrees at Safdarjung, making for another possibly cold day in parts of Delhi. Even on Thursday, the maximum will only be around 17 degrees and from Friday night, we can expect rain, which will help reduce the maximum temperature. Light showers are expected on Saturday, while Friday and Sunday may also witness a drizzle,” Jenamani said.

In its national weather bulletin, IMD said that cold day to severe cold day conditions prevailed in many parts of Uttar Pradesh and in some parts over Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and cold day conditions were recorded in some parts of Punjab and isolated pockets over Bihar.