Temperature dips again in Delhi; minimum falls to 6.4°C as cold winds return

Colder northwesterly winds will return from Wednesday and will likely drag temperatures down to 5-7°C by December 5, said an IMD official.

Delhi recorded another sharp dip in temperatures on Wednesday. The minimum temperature was logged at 6.4°C, which was 3.1°C below normal, marking a significant chill in the early hours.

The minimum temperature was logged at 6.4°C, which was 3.1°C below normal. (ANI)

Daytime conditions also remained cold with a marginal increase in wind speed. The maximum slipped to 23.7°C, around 1.6°C below normal.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier issued a cold wave alert for isolated pockets of Delhi between December 2 and 5. However, officials said the alert now remains only for December 5, owing to a brief change in wind direction on Tuesday.

“Colder northwesterly winds will return from Wednesday and will likely drag temperatures down to 5-7°C by December 5. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 23 degrees and minimum around 6 degrees on Thursday,” an IMD official said.

Cold wave conditions are declared if the minimum temperature is below 10°C while being at least 4.5°C below normal for two consecutive days and at two or more weather stations. Historically, such low temperatures are usually recorded in the latter half of December. Last year, the mercury dipped to 4.5°C on December 12 and 16.

Air quality remained hostile on Wednesday after a brief improvement earlier this week. The morning average AQI stood at 376, before easing slightly to 342 by 4pm but still in the ‘very poor’ category. Fourteen of Delhi’s 40 monitoring stations briefly recorded ‘severe’ AQI levels with Nehru Nagar touching 436. However, by evening all stations had an AQI in the‘very poor’ and ‘poor’ category.

According to the Air Quality Early Warning System, increased wind speed will prevent AQI from slipping into ‘severe’ again, but pollution levels are expected to remain in the ‘very poor’ range till at least December 6.