Delhi shivers at 3°C, coldest yet this winter

There wasn’t much respite during the day with the maximum temperature also settling at a below-normal figure of 16.5 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung. The city was enveloped in dense fog in the early hours with visibility remaining low, at around 50 m even at 8.30 am at Palam and Safdarjung.

IMD scientist R K Jenamani said, “Fog and the absence of direct sunlight have been keeping the daytime temperature much below normal. At the same time, there are westerly and northwesterly winds of around 5 to 10 kmph speed playing a role during the day. In parts of north Rajasthan and Haryana, the temperature was very low, and the winds were coming from these areas where the temperature was sub-zero to two degrees, affecting Delhi and NCR.”

Cold wave conditions are set to persist on Friday with the maximum temperature likely to settle at around 17 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature being around four degrees. Moderate to dense fog remains on the forecast for Delhi on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

A western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from January 7, and temperature is likely to begin rising from the night of January 6, Jenamani added.

The minimum temperature is likely to rise to around 6 degrees Celsius by January 8, while the maximum temperature could return to around 20 degrees by January 9.

The movement of cold air masses “in response to steering by upper-level winds” is one of the factors that the IMD lists to explain the occurrence of cold waves. The IMD recommends avoiding prolonged exposure to cold and covering the head, neck, hands and toes adequately since much of the heat loss occurs through these parts.

Cold wave conditions were also recorded in parts of Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.