Warmest New Year day in 10 yrs

OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, DECEMBER HAS BEEN GETTING WARMER IN DELHI. MIDJANUARY IS NOW THE ONSET OF WINTER IN DELHI

NEWDELHI:After experiencing the coldest Christmas in five years with the maximum temperature at 15.4 degrees Celsius, Delhi saw the warmest New Year’s Day since 2006 this Sunday, when the maximum temperature reached 23.2 degrees Celsius.

Experts said that Delhi has been treated to an uncharacteristically warm winter this year, with minimum temperatures remaining at 6.6 degrees Celsius — a notch above the season’s normal average.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainy days in Delhi from Friday. This may help bring down the temperatures.

It has been one of the mildest winters in Capital in the last five years. Over the last five years, December has been getting warmer in Delhi. Mid-January, which once marked the end of winter in Delhi, is now the onset.

According to Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at Skymet, the lowest temperature recorded in December 2013 was 2.4 degrees Celsius, which increased to 2.6 degrees Celsius in December 2014. “In 2015, the lowest temperature was recorded on December 20 at 5 degrees Celsius. This season the lowest temperature was 6.6 degrees Celsius on December 19,” he said.

2017 also started on a warmer note. “In 2012 too, the temperature had hit 23 degrees Celsius,” said an official from the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC).

Weathermen say low intensity western disturbances and lack of snowfall in the hilly regions have lead to milder winters.

“...There hasn’t been any snowfall in the valleys of Jammu and Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh. Any snowfall, if at all, has been in the extreme north, too far away to create an impact on Delhi’s weather. So, the northerly and north westerly winds that follow after a western disturbance were not as cold. This has impacted the winter temperatures,” said the RWFC official.

Though snowfall was recorded in Shimla on Christmas, the lack of substantial snowfall since, has hit the temperatures in the Delhi. The frequent western disturbances also brought with it easterly winds, which increased humidity in the region and raised the minimum temperatures, according to Palawat.

Though IMD has predicted similar snowfall in north India, it does not expect the temperature to drop below 10 to 11 degrees Celsius in Delhi.