Noida: Mercury rises but city shivers as icy winds sweep region; respite from cold wave from Monday

Cold wave conditions persisted in the region on Friday even as mercury soared in Noida by over three degrees in the past 24 hours. According to the India Meteorological

Cold wave conditions persisted in the region on Friday even as mercury soared in Noida by over three degrees in the past 24 hours. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cold wave will continue on Saturday and may further extend to Sunday at some areas across the national Capital region (NCR), including Noida. The cold day conditions will, however, come to an end by Saturday due to the dispersal of fog, said analysts.

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“Day time temperatures rose slightly on Friday and the main reason behind this is that the fog, that had lifted about 300 to 400 metres above the surface, has dispersed. This has let sunlight through over several areas, thereby increasing day time temperatures, bringing cold day conditions to an end. The cold wave will, however, persist for another two days,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, IMD.

On Friday, Noida recorded a minimum temperature of 8.1 degrees Celsius against 4.5 degrees a day earlier. Meanwhile, the average minimum temperature recorded at Safdarjung observatory, considered average for the NCR, was 4.6 degrees Celsius, same as a day earlier.

The maximum temperature for Noida on Friday was recorded at 19.1 degrees Celsius against 14.4 degrees Celsius a day earlier. For NCR, the average maximum was 19.8 degrees Celsius against 15.2 degrees Celsius a day earlier.

Meanwhile, wind speed varied across NCR, with icy cold north-westerly winds varying from 15 to 8 kmph at different areas, making the wind chill factor -- a factor that varies the actual temperature realisation based on the wind speed – higher at certain areas across the region.

Cold wave is the condition when the minimum temperatures are 4.5 degrees Celsius below the season’s normal, while cold day is the condition when even the maximum temperature is below 4.5 degrees Celsius below the season’s average.

According to the IMD, the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to be between 4.0 and 21.0 degrees Celsius for the region on Saturday.

“There is a western disturbance likely around December 21, which will lead to variable wind directions with more westerly and south-westerly components. This will lead to slight rise in temperatures, and thus the cold wave may stop from December 21 onwards,” said Srivastava.