COURTESY HT NOV 26
IMD: Brace for cold-wave conditions
HT Correspondent
htreporters@hindustantimes.com
New Delhi : If you thought it was unusually chilly in Delhi already, wait till the weekend. The temperature is likely to dip further from Saturday, says the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and the city would most likely experience cold-wave like conditions.
On Wednesday, owing to the impact of a western disturbance over the western Himalayan region, the minimum temperature in Delhi was 10.4 degrees Celsius.
While this was one degree lower than the season’s normal, it was a considerable increase from Tuesday, when the minimum temperature was 6.7 degrees Celsius. On Monday, it was 6.3 degrees Celsius, the lowest November temperature in Delhi since 2003.
A cold wave occurs in plains when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and/or is 4.5 notches lesser than the season’s normal for two consecutive days. For smaller states such as Delhi, however, a cold wave can be declared in case the criterion is met even for a day.
“Due to the likely fall in minimum temperature over north-west India, cold wave conditions are expected to prevail in isolated places in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh between November 27 and November 29,” the IMD said.
Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said under the influence of the western disturbance, the temperatures mostly tend to spike. However, in this instance, the wind direction will change from easterly to north-westerly from Thursday, bringing in cold winds from the hilly regions of Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh
“ Due to the influence of a western disturbance over Afghanistan and neighbouring areas, fairly widespread rainfall, isolated heavy rainfall and snowfall, and isolated hailstorms are likely over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad and Himachal Pradesh from November 25, which will result in low temperatures in Delhi as well, he said.
The IMD said the minimum temperature in Delhi is expected to remain between 6 and 7 degrees Celsius till November-end.
“The skies will be clear again, and this will also cool the surface down faster and reduce the temperature by the end of the week,” Srivastava said.
Delhi has been experiencing an unusually cold October and November this year. The month of October had recorded the lowest temperatures in 58 years, with the mean minimum temperature being just 17.2 degrees Celsius. This is the lowest since 1962 when it had been 16.2 degrees Celsius.
According to IMD scientists,the minimum temperature does not usually drop below 10 degrees Celsius in