Warm days keeping Delhi’s usual winter chill in check, say experts

Experts said lack of active western disturbances and the absence of dense fog has meant days have largely remained warm, with ample sunshine reaching the surface

New Delhi

On Tuesday, the maximum temperature was 24.9°C, which was two degrees above normal. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Despite a sharp dip in minimum temperature at the start of the month, Delhi’s maximum temperature has largely remained around normal or above normal this month, which has helped keep the usual December winter chill in check during the day, according to experts. While the maximum usually tends to touch around 20°C by the second and third week of the month, forecasts show a significant dip is unlikely in the coming days, at least until Christmas.

On Tuesday, the maximum temperature was 24.9°C, which was two degrees above normal. It was 23.7°C a day before and 24°C the day before that. In the first half of the month, the average monthly temperature stood at 24.9°C, with the lowest maximum so far being 23.1°C on December 4.

Experts said lack of active western disturbances and the absence of dense fog has meant days have largely remained warm, with ample sunshine reaching the surface. “We normally have dense fog spells by this time of the year. Barring Monday, dense fog has pretty much been missing this winter season, which is also down to western disturbances being feeble,” said Ashwary Tiwari, an amateur weatherman, who runs the IndiaMetSky handle on X.

Tiwari said that while western disturbances are forecasted, they are expected to remain feeble. “Till Christmas, we are not expecting significant change in the maximum. In previous La Nina years, we have also seen dense fog formation has not been as strong,” he said.

According to IMD, last year, until December 16, the lowest maximum was 21.6°C, recorded on December 9. While 2023 and 2022 had similarly warm starts to the month, with the lowest not going below 23.4°C until December 16, it had already dipped to 19.8°C by this point in 2021 (December 3). In 2020, it had dipped to 18.5°C on December 15, and 18.7°C on December 14 in 2019.

Last year, the lowest maximum of the month was 14.6°C, recorded on December 27. In 2023, the lowest maximum was 15.9°C, on December 31. In 2022, it was 15.6°C, on December 26.

IMD’s forecast until December 22 shows the maximum is likely to oscillate between 22°C and 24°C till December 20, before partially rising and touching close to 26°C by December 22.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet, a private forecaster, said that western disturbances, if strong, can bring sufficient snow to the mountains and introduce moisture across the plains. “If there is ample fog, then sunshine does not reach the surface and the maximum stays low. At the same time, cold northwesterly winds bring the impact of fresh snowfall to the plains,” he said.

The minimum on Tuesday was 8.3°C, which was around normal. This is also forecast to hover between 8°C and 11°C until December 22. The lowest minimum this month was 5.6°C, which was recorded on both December 4 and 5.