PremiumIMD said the annual mean land surface air temperature was 0.51 degrees Celsius above the long-term average which is the mean temperature for the 1981-2010 period.
The year 2022 was the fifth warmest for India since 1901 when India Meteorological Department (IMD) started keeping weather records, the weather office said in an official statement on Climate of India during last year.
It said that the annual mean land surface air temperature was 0.51 degrees Celsius above the long-term average which is the mean temperature for the 1981-2010 period, the statement read, as quoted by PTI.
However, this was lower than the highest warming observed in India in 2016 when the average temperature was 0.71 degrees Celsius. During the 2022 winter season, the all-India mean temperatures were normal with an anomaly of -0.04 degrees Celsius.
The weather forecasting agency on January 6 predicted that cold wave and cold day conditions over northwest India may subside after 24 hours.
Apart from this, the IMD predicted that in the next 24 hours, dense to very dense fog conditions will be persistent over many parts of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh. However, the intensity and distribution may decrease thereafter, it added.
Earlier on Friday, the IMD said dense fog blanketed several parts of north India and the situation would continue in the coming weeks and cold wave conditions will continue over northwest India during next 3 days i.e. till 6 January and decrease in intensity thereafter.
Delhi recorded a cold wave with the minimum temperature at Ayanagar in southwest Delhi plunging to a numbing 1.8 degrees Celsius on January 6.
Meanwhile, Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 4.0°C and Delhi Ridge recorded 3.3°C said IMD. On Thursday, Delhi logged a minimum temperature of three degrees Celsius -- the lowest in January in two years -- making it cooler than several hill stations.
(With PTI inputs)