Slight relief from biting cold for Delhiites, but chill to return

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s minimum temperature rose slightly to 5.5 degrees Celsius on Monday under the influence of a fresh Western Disturbance affecting the upper reaches of the Himalayas. 

“This is a fast moving WD and it will withdraw on Tuesday. Thereafter, the temperatures are expected to drop again,” Mahesh Palawat, an expert at Skymet Weather, a private forecasting agency, said. 

“The WD will lead to light to moderate snowfall in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh,” he said. 

The India Meteorological Department said the Safdarjung Observatory recorded a minimum of 5.5 degrees Celsius on Monday morning as against 3.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the lowest this season so far.

The maximum temperature settled’at 23.5 degrees Celsius, two notches more than normal. It has predicted cold wave conditions at some place in the city from December 23 to December 26. 

Moderate to dense fog is also predicted during the period, it said. Another Western Disturbance’is likely to affect the upper Himalayan region from December 26, Palawat said.

For the plains, the IMD declares a ‘cold’ wave when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and is 4.5 notches less than normal for two consecutive days. 

However, for small areas such as Delhi, a cold wave can be declared if the criteria is fulfilled even for a day, officials said. The air quality was recorded in the “very poor” category.  

The city’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 332. It was 321 on Sunday. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.