Cold wave to persist, mercury set to dip further

The ongoing cold wave conditions in the city are likely to persist till at least Friday, while shallow to moderate fog in the early hours is likely to persist well

The ongoing cold wave conditions in the city are likely to persist till at least Friday, while shallow to moderate fog in the early hours is likely to persist well into the weekend, experts and officials said on Wednesday. With no major weather systems expected to pass over north India for the time being, the minimum temperatures across most monitoring stations in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi-NCR are expected to drop below 5 degrees Celsius in the coming week.

HT Image

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) declares a cold wave in north India’s plain regions when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius for two consecutive days, or if the minimum temperature remains at least 4.5 degrees below the normal for two consecutive days. While the IMD’s automatic weather station in Gurugram did not record the minimum temperature on Wednesday, it had recorded 4.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the coldest day this season.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Palam Observatory (which is the closest AWS to Gurugram) recorded a minimum temperature of six degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Kuldeep Shrivastava, head of regional forecasting at IMD, said, “In Delhi, the Safdarjung observatory is recording minimum temperature that is five degrees below normal and is expected to fall further in the next two days. Corresponding dips in mercury will be felt even in Gurugram.”

This is a sudden dip from Gurugram’s minimum temperature of 10.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday and marks a perceptible nip in the atmosphere.

Navdeep Dahiya, a Rohtak-based meteorologist who has been tracking weather systems in Haryana and Delhi-NCR, attributed this to a combination of two factors. “One is a recent western disturbance, which did not affect Gurugram much but deposited isolated rainfall in other parts of the plains. This has caused temperatures to dip across Delhi-NCR and adjoining states. It has also increased the level of atmospheric moisture, which is why we can see moderate fog taking place in the morning,” Dahiya said.

Moreover, northwestern winds originating in the Himalayas are blowing cold drafts into the plains. “Even though Gurugram has been seeing clear skies during the day, we are not seeing an increase in the daytime temperature because of these cold winds,” said Dahiya.

Wednesday’s maximum temperature in Gurugram, as per IMD data, was 16.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest of the season.

According to experts, minimum and maximum temperatures will continue to dip over the next few days. “There is no significant weather activity forecasted for the next week. With cold winds blowing from the north, and with increased moisture content, foggy conditions will continue till at least the weekend. There is presently a buildup of fog in Punjab, where some weather stations have recorded minimum temperature as little as two degrees Celsius on Wednesday. This will likely spread to Haryana and Delhi as the week progresses,” said Dahiya.

According to the IMD’s seven-day forecast for Gurugram, the minimum temperature is expected to dip to four degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is expected to hover in the range of 15 to 16 degrees Celsius. Cold winds of speeds up to 12kmph are expected to exacerbate cold wave conditions during the day time.

Despite the dip in mercury, pollution levels remained relatively low in Gurugram, recording 221 on the CPCB’s air quality index (AQI) bulletin on Wednesday. “We typically see a buildup in pollutants when the temperature dips so drastically, but fortunately there are strong winds blowing over Delhi-NCR. This is expected after a western disturbance. When the temperature falls even more in coming days, it will coincide with a slowdown in wind speeds. This will trap both pollutants and humidity and we may see very poor to severe air once again, after the coming weekend,” said Sachin Panwar, a city-based air quality scientist.