New Delhi: The city recorded the lowest minimum temperature of the season on Sunday as the mercury dropped to 16.5 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal, at Safdarjung, which is the city's base station.
However, the Ridge in north Delhi was the coldest station as the minimum temperature stood at 13.3 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. It was followed by Ayanagar in south Delhi, where the minimum dropped to 14.5 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal. Clear skies during the daytime caused the night temperature to dip.
The maximum temperature on Sunday was recorded at 33.2 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal. Rain has been eluding Delhi for nearly one and a half months, and hence the city has been recording sunny days. "The days are warm due to clear skies. However, as there is no cloudiness, the heat quickly dissipates at night, which causes a dip in temperature," a Met official said.
The data shared by India Meteorological Department suggests that the last time the national capital logged rainfall was on Sept 19.
Though the long-period average for Oct for normal rainfall is 15.1 mm, the city did witness rain activity for a single day.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-chairman, Skymet Meteorology, said: "The minimum temperature saw a dip on Sunday mainly due to clear skies. However, it was still one degree above normal. The normal minimum temperature is 15.3 degrees Celsius for this time of the year."
The night temperatures mostly drop to below 15 degrees Celsius during the last week of Oct, according to an analysis of past data from the India Meteorology Department. However, the lowest minimum temperature recorded in Oct 2024 was 17.4 degrees Celsius on Oct 15. However, both day and night temperatures remained above normal on most days in Oct.
TOI earlier reported that Oct was the warmest for the national capital in 73 years.
The India Meteorological Department attributed this to the lack of western disturbances this Oct, leading to no rainfall in the month. Both the average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures were the highest since 1951.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures in Oct were 35.1 degrees Celsius and 21.2 degrees Celsius.
IMD's data shows that the minimum temperatures start dropping below 10 degrees in the last two weeks of Nov. The lowest minimum temperature recorded in Nov 2023 was 9.2 degrees Celsius on Nov 24.
In Nov 2022, the lowest night temperature was witnessed at 7.3 degrees Celsius on Nov 30.