Delhi records coldest day of this season; yellow alert issued for next 3 days

Delhi on Wednesday witnessed the coldest day of the current season as temperatures plunged to 4.4 degrees Celsius. The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded the lowest temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius. 

The temperature has been recorded as similar to the cold spell between December 25-27, IMD Scientist Dr RK Jenamani said while speaking to news agency ANI. He said the lowest temperature in Delhi was 3.3°C at the Ridge area near Delhi University.

At 4.4 degrees Celsius, Delhi was colder than Himachal Pradesh's Dharamsala (5.2 degrees), and Uttarakhand's Nainital (6 degrees).

An IMD official said fog and a low cloud layer persisted over north and central parts of India, covering large parts of the country and causing a 'cold day' to a 'severe cold day'. The official said a cold wave was recorded over isolated pockets of Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.

The Palam observatory at the Indira Gandhi International Airport logged a visibility level of 200 metres at 5.30 am. According to the weather office, 'very dense' fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 metres is 'dense', 201 and 500 metres 'moderate', and 501 and 1,000 metres 'shallow'.

For Delhi, the IMD has issued a yellow alert for the next three days till 7 January.

In its latest forecast, the weather office said dense fog and cold day conditions will likely continue over northwest India during the next three days.

Due to light winds and high moisture near the surface over Indo-Gangetic plains, dense to very dense fog is likely to continue over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh during the next 2-3 days, the department said.

Cold day to severe cold day conditions is very likely in some pockets of Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana during the next 2-3 days. Uttar Pradesh will face similar weather conditions during the next five days. 

As per the weather office, a cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees below the normal and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees below the normal. A severe cold day is when the maximum is 6.5 degrees or more below the normal.

(With inputs from PTI)