Delhi shivers at 12.2° C, Tuesday coldest day in 22 years

The maximum temperature on Tuesday was 12.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 10.4 degrees Celsius, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Tuesday was bitingly cold in Delhi. It was so chilly that the temperature recorded at 2pm was only 1.8 degrees more than that recorded at 3am, making the day the coldest in 22 years.

Men gather around a bonfire to warm themselves from mornign cold waves at Jhandewalan in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The maximum temperature on Tuesday was 12.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 10.4 degrees Celsius, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Scientists said Tuesday’s day temperature hit the lowest since December 28,1997, when the maximum (day) temperature had touched 11.3 degrees Celsius.

“When the maximum temperature (during the day) dips, one feels colder. People are out and about and can feel the chill. But at night, when the minimum temperature goes down, people are at home and don’t really feel the bite much. The day and the night temperatures were almost the same over the last two days,” Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said.

A reason for the “severely cold day” was the cold north-westerly winds blowing in from the snow-clad Himalayas. Experts said apart from that, a layer of low-hanging clouds was stopping the sunlight from reaching the ground, making the day colder.

“States such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir have been experiencing snowfall over the past few days and the winds from there are reaching the plains, including Delhi,” Srivastava said.

Another senior IMD scientist warned that the days are likely to get colder from Wednesday, as a western disturbance is expected to approach the region, triggering more snowfall in the hill states, and its effects will be experienced in Delhi as well. This will be the third western disturbance this December. Usually, about two or three western disturbance affect the northern region in December.

“There is a possibility of a cold wave from Wednesday owing to the upcoming western disturbance,” the scientist said.

Despite the fog and dip in temperature, the air quality improved on Tuesday with the air quality index touching 168, in the ‘moderate’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

On Monday, the AQI was 185 ( also moderate). The improvement was mainly due to high wind speeds. The wind speed on Monday was about 15-18kmph.