Winter grips Delhi as city sees coldest November morning in 17 years

Delhi witnessed the coldest November morning in the last 17 years as the mercury level dropped to 6.9 degrees Celsius, the lowest minimum temperature the city recorded so far since the onset of winters. The Indian Meteorological Department data finds that Sunday temperature was four degrees below normal as compared to this time other years, reported IE.

Last time the national capital witnessed a chillier November was in 2003 when the recorded minimum temperature was 6.1 degree Celsius, reveals data from the IMD Safdarjung observatory, the is representative of the city’s weather. According to the head of the IMD regional weather forecasting centre, Kuldeep Srivastava, this year has been exceptionally cold as temperature in Delhi during Octobers was also two or three degrees below normal. In November, barring two days, the night time temperature has mostly remained below normal of average.

The factors that contributed to the record drop in temperature, Srivastava said are cold winds blowing from the mountainous regions with fresh snowfall, clear nighttime skies in Delhi that increases the loss of heat due to radiation and cooling of the ground. The direction of the wind blowing from the north-west direction is likely to divert to easterly by Wednesday increasing temperature by close to 10 degrees until Friday.

Some areas in Delhi like the Lodhi road, Mungeshpur were colder than Safdarjung with a recorded temperature of 6.4 and 6.3 degree Celsius respectively. According to Srivastava, the temperature will fall further in December when unlike November’s cold early morning, day time temperature will also drop significantly. The maximum temperature recorded in the city on Sunday was also the lowest day time temperature recorded so far in the month at 24.2 degree Celsius.

Meanwhile, falling temperatures are deteriorating Delhi air quality further as the wind slows down. By Monday and Tuesday AQI will be ‘very poor’ said SAFAR bulletin. On Sunday Delhi’s AQI was 274, said Central Pollution Board data. The air quality, however, has improved from ‘severe’ during Diwali to ‘very poor’ now due to strong winds and scattered rains. To manage pollution levels effectively, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Raid informed that 159 tankers have been deployed to sprinkle water in the most polluted areas and 23 anti-smog guns have been installed to reduce dust level in Delhi air.