PremiumDelhi saw an intense cold wave spell from January 5 to January 9. The IMD had earlier issued an orange warning for cold wave in Delhi till January 17-18.
Delhi recorded its coldest temperature of the season on Monday morning, with the minimum plunging to 1.4 degree Celsius. The India Meteorological Department had earlier issued an an orange warning for cold wave in Delhi till January 17-18.
"Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions very likely over many parts of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi till 17th and thereafter in isolated pockets on the 18th," the IMD forecast on Sunday.
The Met department said that a further fall in minimum temperatures by about 2°C is very likely over many parts of northwest and central India till Tuesday, followed by a gradual rise by 3-5°C between 18 and 21st January.
The Safdarjung observatory - the city's base station - recorded a minimum temperature of 1.4 degrees Celsius - the lowest in the month since January 1, 2021. The weather station at Lodhi Road recorded a minimum temperature of 1.6 degrees Celsius.
Delhi has also recorded over 50 hours of dense fog this month so far - the highest since 2019. A senior IMD official however told news agency PTI that Delhi will get excellent sunshine in view of clear skies and the absence of fog and day temperatures will be normal.
"Cold wave conditions will prevail during the night and early morning. So, this cold spell cannot be compared with the previous one," he said.
A cold wave is declared in the plains if the minimum temperature dips to 4 degrees Celsius or when it is 10 degrees Celsius and 4.5 notches below normal.
A severe cold wave is said to be underway when the minimum temperature dips to two degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal limits is by more than 6.4 notches.
“A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect Western Himalayan Region from the night of 18th January, 2023. Under its influence, light/moderate isolated/scattered rainfall/snowfall over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand likely during 18th-20th January," the IMD forecast.
"There has been heavy snowfall in the Himalayan region due to a strong western disturbance (WD). Cold northwesterly winds started sweeping the plains after the WD retreated on January 14. The sharp dip in the temperature is due to clear skies which allowed the infrared radiation (heat from the sun) to escape back into space at night," Mahesh Palawat, a senior meteorologist at Skymet Weather.
(With inputs from agencies)