It’s official: Winter has hit Delhi

The minimum temperatures in the Capital plummeted to 6.7 degrees Celsius or single-digit figure after a gap (or delay) of more than a week on Saturday.

At last, it is time to keep the heavy woolens handy. Some serious winter chill is in the offing.

HT Image

The minimum temperatures in the Capital plummeted to 6.7 degrees Celsius or single-digit figure after a gap (or delay) of more than a week on Saturday. And this was also after a gap of more than two weeks that the minimum temperature came below the normal mark by a few notches — two degrees to be exact.

Moreover, the mercury had a drop of five degrees from Friday’s minimum temperatures.

The Met department said with icy cold northwesterly winds lashing the city, the day temperatures will begin to fall and the nights will get significantly colder, the way they should this time of the season.

“With no immediate chances of clouds blocking the day’s pent up heat and increasing the temperature, Delhi will start feeling the chill now,” said the duty officer at the Safdarjung met office. The maximum temperature on Saturday, at 23.4 degrees Celsius, was again a couple of degrees colder than normal.

This comes as a major relief Delhiites used to bone-chilling cold this time of the year. “We sensed the nip in the air in the morning. This was missing all this while. It is this nagging icy winds that makes Delhi’s winter so infamous,” said Arjun Seth, a resident of Jor Bagh.

The sun was hidden behind a veil of haze most part of the morning, adding to the sting in the chill. It was time to bring out the heavier woolens. “The single sweater was not enough in the morning. The pullovers, too, had to be deployed to fight the chill,” said Arti Visht of Punjabi Bagh (West).

One of the best parts about the weatherman’s forecast is that chances of heavy fog, which routinely disrupts air and road traffic in Delhi, are almost nil in the next few days. “Visibility will not be a problem because we do not see any chances of rain or snow in the hilly areas,” said the Met official.

The Met office has predicted mainly clear sky with possibilities of some mist in the morning. This time, they said, the chill was here for good.