Delhi’s minimum temp drops to 10°C; IMD may declare cold wave
People warm themselves next to a fire at Nizamuddin in New Delhi on Monday.
Press Trust of India
As the minimum temperature in Delhi dropped to 10 degrees Celsius, the season’s lowest so far, on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said it will declare a cold wave in the city if the situation persists for another day.
The weather department also said the month of November this year is expected to be the coldest in the last four to five years.
The national capital’s minimum temperature was less than that of Dalhousie (10.9 degrees Celsius), Dharamshala (10.6) and Mandi (10.2) in Himachal Pradesh and Mussoorie (10.4) in Uttarakhand. Shimla in HP and Nainital in Uttarakhand also recorded their minimum temperatures at 10 degrees Celsius.
“The trend of below normal minimum temperature continues. A similar situation is expected to prevail for another four to five days,” Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting center of IMD, said.
For the plains, the IMD declares a cold wave when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and is 4.5 notches less than normal for two consecutive days.
“The criteria for Tuesday has been met. We will declare a cold wave in Delhi if the situation persists on Wednesday,” Srivastava said.
He said the month of November this year is expected to be the coldest in the last four to five years. Normally, the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, records a minimum of 14.8 degrees Celsius in the first week of November.
The mercury dips to 11-12 degrees Celsius by the last week
of November, according to IMD officials.
The senior IMD scientist said the minimum temperature is expected to be recorded in single
digits in the next three to four days. Delhi has been witnessing a trend of low minimum temperatures due to the absence of cloud cover, he said.