For the month of November, this is the lowest reading of mercury at night time since 2006, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD) (File photo)A cold wave is forecast in Delhi on Saturday and Sunday as the minimum temperature on Friday dropped to 7.5 degrees Celsius, lowest for the season so far this year and five degrees below normal.
For the month of November, this is the lowest reading of mercury at night time since 2006, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Minimum temperature last fell below this mark at the IMD’s Safdarjung observatory, which is representative of the city, on November 29, 2006 when it was 7.3 degrees Celsius.
Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre in Delhi, said, “We are receiving cold winds from northern areas that have witnessed snowfall in the past few days. Delhi also has clear skies at present, which is causing higher radiation and faster cooling at night time.”
Srivastava added that areas in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir had witnessed snowfall earlier this week and winds from these regions were influencing Delhi’s temperature.
He said that by Sunday, the minimum temperature is expected to reach 7 degrees Celsius. “Cold wave conditions could persist on Saturday and Sunday, after which the minimum temperature is expected to rise,” Srivastava said.
In plains, the IMD’s criteria for cold wave is when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or lower and the departure from normal temperature is below 4.5 degrees for two days.
Maximum or day time temperature in Delhi has also dropped from 31.6 degrees Celsius on November 4 to 25.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, two degrees below normal.
Meanwhile, the average air quality index (AQI) of Delhi deteriorated within the ‘poor’ category on Friday with a reading of 296, higher than 211 recorded on Wednesday, as per the Central Pollution Control Board.
Air quality is expected to remain in the ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ category for the next two days, according to a forecast from the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ monitor SAFAR.