Cold wave conditions to abate in Gurugram from Thursday, says IMD

The IMD said the minimum temperature was in the range of 1-3°C in many parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. The lowest temperature in the country was recorded at Churu, Rajasthan, at -2.7°C

Cold wave conditions continued in the city on Tuesday for the second consecutive day, with the mercury refusing to budge from the season’s lowest minimum temperature of 2.4 degrees Celsius (°C), which was recorded on Monday.

The minimum temperature on Tuesday was 2.4°C and maximum temperature was 17.6°C, up from Monday’s 16.8°C, the IMD data showed. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said “cold wave to severe cold wave” conditions will continue on Wednesday in parts of Haryana and Punjab, including Gurugram and any relief is likely only from Thursday, owing to two western disturbances that are expected in the western Himalayan region on January 18 and January 20, the IMD said on Tuesday.

The minimum temperature on Tuesday was 2.4°C and maximum temperature was 17.6°C, up from Monday’s 16.8°C, the IMD data showed.

The cold conditions will continue on Wednesday but thereafter the temperature will rise by a few notches. Cloudy days and isolated rain is likely on January 23 and 24 and that will help dissipate the cold. Shallow fog may be witnessed in parts of Punjab and Haryana,” said Manmohan Singh, director, IMD Chandigarh.

Despite the dip in temperature, the sun shined throughout the day on Tuesday and brought relief to residents, who have been braving the chilly weather since the start of the month. “The sun has been a great relief since the past three days. Inside homes, it is very cold as even the walls are cold; outdoors is better, thanks to the sun. We spent the entire day outside our shop on Tuesday,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, a shop owner on the Sector 23A road.

The IMD said the minimum temperature was in the range of 1-3°C in many parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. The lowest temperature in the country was recorded at Churu, Rajasthan, at -2.7°C.

The IMD in Chandigarh said ground frost conditions will prevail in isolated places in Haryana. It also predicted moderate to light thundershower on January 22, 23 and 24 across Punjab and Haryana. “Strong surface winds (speeds reaching 30-40 kmph) with gusty winds (speeds reaching 50 kmph) is very likely to prevail over Punjab and Haryana on January 23 and January 24,” it said in its forecast.

The air quality in the city was recorded in the “poor” category on Monday with a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 250. The AQI on Monday was also in the “poor” category with an AQI of 207.

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) said on Tuesday that air quality is likely to improve but will remain within “very poor” category for the next three days due to accumulation of pollutants as wind if flowing from northwest direction, which is experiencing cold wave conditions.