Yellow alert for extreme cold in Delhi today: What does this mean?

Day temperatures in Delhi on Monday will likely be around 19 degrees Celsius since wind speeds are falling. Night temperatures in the national capital are expected to hover around 4 degrees, according to India Meteorological Department.

National capital and its nearby regions are experiencing a cold wave, which took the temperature to below four degrees Celsius for the first time this winter. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that though Safdarjung, Delhi’s base station, recorded a temperature of 4.6 degrees on Sunday morning, it plunged to 3.3 degrees at Jafarpur and 3.6 degrees at Lodhi Road.

Punjab, Haryana and other northern regions, including Delhi, are reeling under severe cold wave.  (HT Photo)

The weather department issued a yellow alert for the national capital both for Sunday and Monday.

RK Jenamani, Director General of Meteorology at IMD, further said that there is a possibility of drizzling on December 24 or 25.

What does a yellow alert mean?

The IMD has several colour-coded warnings depicting the weather at a particular place. The warnings are issued after analysis of weather forecast data for a particular region over a few days.

Yellow weather warning indicates severely bad weather. It also suggests that the weather could change for the worse, causing disruption in day-to-day activities and asks people in an area to remain vigilant.

These alerts are universal in nature and are also issued during floods or heavy rainfall.

The IMD has issued yellow alert for Uttarakhand also from December 18-21. Many places in that state, like Ranichauri, Mukteshwar, Mussoorie, Pithoragarh and New Tehri have recorded sub-zero or near-freezing temperatures.

Cold wave in Delhi

The cold wave conditions have been prevailing in the national capital for the last two days owing to a strong, dry northwesterly cold wind, the IMD said. However, the spell will be abetted from December 21 following improvement in the weather, the weather department added.

Day temperatures in Delhi on Monday will likely be around 19 degrees Celsius since wind speeds are falling. Night temperatures in the national capital are expected to hover around 4 degrees, according to the forecast.

How cold wave is declared?

The weather department declares a cold day if the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees below normal. It announces a cold wave if the day’s low is either 4.5 degrees below normal, or is below 4 degrees.

Cold wave in entire north India

Several parts of northwest India recorded subzero temperatures. Both the day’s high and low were several notches below normal in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir.

Sikar in east Rajasthan recorded minus 2.5 degrees, 8.5 degrees below normal. Churu in the western part of the desert state recorded minus 2.6 degrees, 8.4 degrees below normal. Amritsar in Punjab saw minus 0.5 degrees, 4.3 degrees below normal, and a maximum of 15.5 degrees, 5 degrees below normal. Bathinda recorded 0.1 degree, 3.5 degrees below normal and a maximum of 17.6, 4 degrees below normal.