A cold wave warning has been issued by The India Meteorological Department (IMD). It has also forecast the night temperature in Delhi which could further drop to around 4 degrees in the coming days.
The mercury dropped to 5.1 degrees Celsius in the early hours of Tuesday, making it the coldest December day since 2015. The mercury had touched 5 degrees Celsius on December 20, 2015.
The IMD officials said, “The main reason behind the unusual drop in Tuesday’s minimum temperature was clear skies and strong cold winds blowing over Delhi due to heavy snowfall in parts of northwest India.”
Kuldeep Srivastava, Head of Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC), IMD said, “The heavy snowfall early for this time of the year in Jammu and Kashmir, parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has triggered cold winds that are reaching Delhi. This is mainly because the sky is clear and in the absence of any cloud layer, the cold wind rapidly cools the earth. This phenomenon is called radiation cooling.”
According to IMD forecast, the sky is expected to remain clear till December 22.
Private weather forecaster Skymet too has issued a warning for cold wave conditions in parts of Delhi over the next couple of days.
GP Sharma, President of Meteorology, Skymet said, “Over the next 3-4 days, the night temperature is going to remain below normal. It may drop to 4 degrees from Thursday, which would lead to cold wave condition.”
The minimum temperature on Wednesday is expected to settle around 5 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 23 degrees Celsius.
However, the minimum temperature is expected to rise by around 1-2 degrees Celsius from December 23, as a western disturbance is likely to approach Delhi bringing clouds with it.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) value, on Tuesday was recorded at 353, in the ‘very poor’ category. The air quality in the city is likely to deteriorate, as wind speed could slow down over the next two days.
The officials also said that the cold wave conditions may be witnessed only at isolated places in the city on December 20, 21 and 22.
