Delhi's minimum temperature drops to 6.5°C as winter chill grips national capital

Monday’s temperature was a drop from the 8.3 degrees Celsius on Sunday, which in turn was lower than 9.2°C on Saturday.

The winter embraced Delhi in an even chillier grip on Monday, as the minimum temperature plunged to 6.5°C, a two-degree drop from a day ago and the lowest it has been this season.

People on a smoggy morning amid rising air pollution level in New Delh on Monday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Delhi’s temperatures have been sliding for a few days now as cool winds course rapidly through the city. Monday’s temperature was a drop from the 8.3 degrees Celsius on Sunday, which in turn was lower than 9.2°C on Saturday. Monday’s minimum was three degrees below what is considered normal for this time of the year.

And even as the city’s windows were painted in a coat of condensation on Monday morning, the weather department said Delhi’s day-time temperatures, which so far have remained pleasant, will likely get even lower in the coming days.

Delhi’s maximum temperature on Monday increased marginally to 24.8°C, around normal, from 23.4°C a day earlier.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said weather conditions are unlikely to change over the next few days and that this will allow northwesterly winds to cocoon the Capital.

Read Here: Mercury in Delhi plunges to season’s lowest as air quality remains very poor

“These are cool winds, which are gradually leading to a drop in temperature. The longer we see sustained northwesterly winds, the more the mercury dips,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

With the chill came a shallow fog, which enveloped much of the city in the morning. According to IMD, there was a “shallow to moderate fog” with a visibility of 500m at Safdarjung and around 700m at Palam.

The agency classifies a fog as shallow when the visibility is between 500m and 1,000m, as moderate fog when it is between 200m and 500m, and as dense when the visibility plunges below 200m.

The day- and night-time temperatures are likely to hover around 6°C and 24°C respectively on Monday, IMD said.

Delhi’s notoriously cold winters gather pace around end-December, before stabilising for large parts of January, which is the city’s coolest month. The chill then starts giving way marginally in February before the winter exits in March.

Pollution levels in the city remained largely unchanged on Monday, with an average 24-hour air quality index (AQI) of 317 at 4pm. This was 314 at the same time a day ago.

Forecasts by the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, which the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR relies on for decision-making purposes, showed that the air quality is unlikely to swing heavily over the next few days.