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Mercury likely to fall by end-December: IMD

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Dec 26, 2020 01:41 AM IST

The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum temperature of 4.6°C, three notches below the normal.

Cold and foggy weather persisted in the national capital on Friday as the minimum temperature remained below five degrees Celsius for the third consecutive day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

A police personnel seen on a foggy morning near India Gate in New Delhi, India.(Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)
A police personnel seen on a foggy morning near India Gate in New Delhi, India.(Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum temperature of 4.6°C, three notches below the normal.

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“Moderate” fog reduced visibility to 201 metres at Safdarjung, while “shallow” fog was recorded in the Palam area, Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said.

According to the weather department, fog is categorised as “very dense” when the visibility is between 0 and 50 metres. In case of “dense” fog, visibility is between 51 and 200 metres, “moderate” 201 and 500 metres, and “shallow” 501 and 1,000 metres.

Cold wave conditions are predicted in parts of Delhi on Saturday.

A moderate intensity western disturbance is likely to lead to a substantial fall in minimum temperatures once again end of this month, according to predictions by weather forecasters.

A gradual rise in minimum temperatures, by two to three degrees Celsius, is predicted in the next three days, followed by a drop in minimum temperatures between three and five degrees over northwest India between December 28 and 30.

“Minimum temperatures are likely to drop to around 3°C to 5°C after December 28. Normally also, winter is at its peak during end-December and early-January. However, because of the influence of a western disturbance, it can be harsher. Both October and November have been colder than usual this year but December has been mild so far,” said RK Jenamani, senior scientist, national weather forecasting centre.

Meanwhile, ‘cold wave’ to severe cold wave’ conditions are likely in isolated pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and ‘cold wave’ conditions probable in isolated pockets over Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan and north Madhya Pradesh on December 28 and 29.

Ground frost conditions are likely over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and north Rajasthan during December 28 and 29.

A cold wave occurs in plains when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and/or is 4.5 notches lesser than the season’s normal for two consecutive days. Cold wave is also declared when the minimum temperature is less than 4 degree C in the plains.

Slight improvement in Delhi pollution

After three consecutive days of “severe” pollution, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) improved marginally to fall in the “very poor” category at 357. Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Noida, all of which had recorded severe air also improved marginally.

According the Union ministry of earth sciences’ air quality early warning system for Delhi, surface winds are likely to get stronger on December 25, and ventilation will improve resulting in improvement in air quality. “The wind speed increased to 10 to 15 kmph on Friday which helped improve air quality but we are expecting AQI to deteriorate again on December 27 and 28 to lower end of very poor or severe category. When a western disturbance approaches winds slow down which results in accumulation of pollutants,” said VK Soni, scientist at IMD’s air quality management division.

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