E-Paper
Delhi shivers, severe cold conditions to continue
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
The national capital has experienced the highest number of ‘cold days’ this December in five years. Delhi has had eight cold days so far this month, same as what was recorded in 2014.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Safdarjung Observatory, which is representative of Delhi’s weather, recorded eight cold days between December 16 and December 23.
In 1997, Delhi had recorded 17 cold days in December followed by nine in 2003.
“The number of cold days will break the record of 2014, as the severe cold spell is expected to continue till the year-end. Delhi is predicted to reel under ‘severe cold days’ over at least the next four days. This is primarily because of the chilly northwesterly winds blowing the national capital region (NCR). The cold winds are travelling from the Western Himalayan Region where heavy snowing has been taking place,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, IMD’s head of regional weather forecasting centre (RWFC).
The capital woke up to another chilly morning on Monday experiencing a ‘severe cold day’ and a dense layer of fog. The severe cold spell that affected the entire northern region last week is likely to continue in the coming week with ‘cold wave’ conditions predicted to set in over Delhi and neighbouring states after Christmas, scientists said.
“Cold wave conditions are expected in Delhi on December 28-29. Delhi is likely to have clear skies on these days when the radiation cooling phenomenon results in lowering of night temperatures. Besides, the layer of fog has not allowed sunlight to reach earth’s surface to warm it,” Srivastava said.
On Monday, the maximum temperature was 14.3 degrees C, seven degrees below normal while the minimum settled at 8.3 degrees C. There was dense fog in the morning hours with less than 150 metres visibility at 5.30am.
For the purpose of documentation, IMD records both cold days and severe cold days under the same category, officials said. A ‘cold day’ is when the day temperature drops by more than 4.4 degrees C below normal while a ‘severe cold day’ is when the day temperature falls by more than 6.4 degrees C below normal.
According to meteorologists, the main difference between a cold day and a cold wave is that a cold day is considered when the maximum temperature or day temperature falls under a certain threshold while a cold wave is considered when the minimum or night temperature falls. The coming days could see both.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality plunged marginally on Monday though remaining in the ‘very poor’ zone. The overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was 327, as against 322 on Sunday.
Weather experts warned that the air quality may deteriorate further due to unfavourable meteorological conditions on December 24-25. “Wind speed is expected to slow down. Besides, there is a forecast of dense fog, which will make the air heavier. This will trap pollutants closer to the ground,” said a senior IMD scientist.
However, he said, wind speed is expected to pick up again from December 26, which will clear the air of pollutants.
System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), ministry of earth science’s weather and air quality monitoring centre, forecast also said that from Tuesday the AQI is likely to reach the higher end of the ‘very poor’ category in certain parts of the city.
“Low surface wind speed and little ventilation are the primary reasons for spike in pollution levels. This may result in accumulation of pollutants on December 28-29 when the AQI levels may remain in ‘severe’ zone for over 48 hours,” said a senior SAFAR scientist.
