After five days, cold wave takes a break in Delhi

NEW DELHI: After battling cold wave conditions for the past five days, the third worst since 2006, the city finally got some respite on Tuesday even as the dense fog condition continued, delaying over 100 flights and 39 Delhi-bound trains.
From 12.30am to 9.30am, the national capital saw nine hours of dense fog situation, with the visibility mostly below 200 metres. Although a large part of the northern plains remained under a cover of dense-to-very-dense fog, the span on Tuesday was lesser than that of Monday, when the city experienced the longest fog of the season persisting for over 20 hours.
According to the weather department, the city may see moderate-to-dense fog of lesser intensity and span on Wednesday. There are chances of a drizzle to light rain on Thursday, which will further improve the visibility. However, the moderate-to-dense fog may be back from Friday.
On Tuesday, the city recorded a three-degree rise in the minimum temperature as the wind direction changed from icy-cold northwesterly to warmer westerly and easterly. According to weather analysts, an active western disturbance has changed the wind directions and will reduce fogging. “Further changes in wind directions will also impact the daytime temperature,” said Mahesh Palawat of Skymet.
“The cold wave is not expected for the next four days. However, the temperature will start falling again from January 14,” said an official at India Meteorological Department (IMD). According to it, the January 5-9 cold wave was the third worst spell in the past 23 years. “In 2006, there were four consecutive cold wave days and the lowest minimum was 0.2 degrees Celsius. In 2013, there were six back-to-back days from January 3 to 9, with the lowest temperature at 0.2 degrees Celsius, while in 2023, the lowest minimum was 1.9 degrees Celsius,” said RK Jenamani, senior weather scientist at IMD.
According to IMD, the minimum temperature at base station Safdarjung was 6.4 degrees Celsius against 3.8 degrees a day earlier. The lowest minimum was 4.2 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar and the lowest maximum at Palam at 16.6 degrees. At Safdarjung, the maximum was 18.8 degree Celsius, a notch below normal, against 18.6 on Monday. The maximum and minimum temperatures on Wednesday are likely to hover around 19 and 7 degrees Celsius.
A cold-wave is declared when the minimum temperature is either below 4 degrees Celsius or 4.5 degrees below normal.