Min temp dips further to 8.8°C as chilly streak continues in Delhi

Delhi experiences lowest March minimum temperature in 5 years with 8.8°C, attributed to cold winds from Himalayas, likely to continue with 9°C on Friday.

Cold winds swept through Delhi on Thursday, giving the city its lowest March minimum temperature in five years and keeping the night-time mercury below 10°C for a fourth straight day.

New Delhi, India - March 7, 2024: Blue Sky over the Old Delhi , India, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Photo by Arvind Yadav/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The Capital’s minimum temperature fell to 8.8°C, after 9°C on Wednesday, 9°C on Tuesday and 9.5°C on Monday.

With this, Delhi is in the thick of its longest March streak of sub-10°C temperatures in 34 years, showed data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The last time Delhi had a longer streak in March was in 1990, when the minimum dipped below 10°C for five straight days – between March 1 and March 5, when the temperature was 8.3°C, 8.7°C, 9.4°C, 8.8°C and 9.3°C, respectively.

IMD attributed the ongoing chill to cold winds that were coursing in from the Himalayas, which received fresh spells of snow earlier this week.

“March normally does not see such low temperatures. And when it happens, it usually dips only for a day or two. We have been seeing a sustained impact of the recent western disturbance on March 2 and 3 that brought fresh snowfall to the mountains in northern India,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

“Winds blowing in from these mountains are now reaching the plains and are combining with clear skies at night to make for a low minimum,” he added.

IMD forecasts show the impact of cold northwesterly winds is likely to continue, keeping the minimum hovering around 9°C on Friday as well.

Meanwhile, Delhi logged a maximum temperature of 26.4°C on Thursday, which was two degrees below normal. This is a slight rise from Wednesday’s maximum of 23.6°C.

Srivastava said the maximum should hover around 26-27°C over the next three days, adding no rain is likely in the next seven days.

Parts of Delhi recorded light rain on March 2 and 3, and the city has logged 4.2mm of rainfall so far this month. The long period average (LPA) for rainfall in March is 17.4mm.