CHILL CONTINUES ACROSS CAPITAL AS MERCURY DIPS TO 16.6°C

NEW DELHI: Delhiites woke up to a cold morning again on Saturday as a thick haze hung over the city during the early hours of Saturday. The day’s minimum temperature dipped to 16.6 degrees Celsius, breaching Friday’s record of lowest minimum temperature of 17.5 degrees Celsius in over seven years for the first half of October.

The sudden dip in the mercury has been triggered by dry and cold northwesterly winds, officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The wind direction so far having a southern component changed from October 12 onwards to northwest.

“The wind pattern changed to north-westerly which cools off the nights faster. Also, a recent western disturbance over northwest India causing thundershowers and snowfall over Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Himachal Pradesh had a cooling effect in the capital causing the sharp drop in the minimum temperature resulting in a nip in the morning,” said B P Yadav, IMD deputy director-general.

Met official said the mercury in the Capital generally dips below 20 degrees Celsius only towards the end of October. In 2017, the city had recorded minimum temperature of 16.1 degrees Celsius on October 26.

Between 2011 and 2017, the lowest minimum temperature recorded between October 11 and 12 were 20 degrees Celsisus, said IMD officials.

The maximum temperature recorded on Saturday was at 31.2 degrees Celsius, which was two notches below the season’s average, while the minimum was at 16.6 degrees Celsius, three below the season’s average.

The maximum and minimum temperatures on Sunday are likely to hover at 33 and 16 degrees Celsius, respectively. Also, according to MET officials, skies will remain clear along with mist in morning.

IMD officials said the temperature is expected to be nearly the same over the next 48 hours.