New Delhi: Brace for chilly days as Met department issued a yellow alert for coldwave conditions till Monday. The mercury dipped to 4.2 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal, on Saturday, making it the coldest Jan night in two years.The minimum temperature was 4.6 degrees Celsius on Friday, which dipped further on Saturday. A lower minimum temperature than Friday was last recorded in Jan at 3.3 degrees Celsius on Jan 15, 2024. The dipping trend is likely to continue over the next two days.
“Icy cold winds from the western himalayan region are continuously prevailing in the city. It led to a drop in the minimum temperature,” said a Met official. Krishna Kumar, an IMD scientist, said coldwave conditions are likely till Monday during morning hours, as the minimum temperature is expected to dip to around 3 to 5 degrees Celsius. A cold wave is considered when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, but the departure is 4.5 or more notches below normal. It is also declared when the minimum temperature is less than 4 degrees Celsius. Delhi did not record a coldwave in Jan 2025, but five such days were seen in Jan 2024. However, eight coldwaves were witnessed in Jan 2023. “According to Delhi’s climatology, most cold wave conditions are seen in Jan,” said an official. IMD’s data shows that the city recorded the minimum temperature in single digits continuously from Jan 2 onwards. On Jan 1, the minimum temperature stood at 10.6 degrees Celsius, but it dipped to 9.1 degrees Celsius on Jan 2. On Saturday, the city recorded dense fog, with visibility dipping to 50 metres in parts of Delhi. Palam reported 100-metre visibility at 7:30 am, which dipped to 100 metres at 8 am. It rose to 100 metres at 8:30 am. However, Safdarjung, the city’s base station, reported minimum visibility of 200 metres at 7.30 am, which became 300 metres at 8 am and then 400 metres at 9 am. “Wind speed was mainly 5-7 kmph during the period,” said the official. IMD classifies the intensity of fog in terms of visibility. When the visibility is under 50 metres, it is classified as very dense fog. Visibility between 50-200 metres is dense fog, between 200-500 metres is moderate fog and between 500-1,000 metres is shallow fog. IMD said moderate to dense fog is likely during morning hours on Sunday. However, shallow to moderate fog is likely on Monday. The maximum temperature on Saturday rose to 20.2 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal. It was 19.7 degrees Celsius a day earlier. It is likely to stay between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius on Sunday and 17-19 degrees Celsius on Monday. Delhi’s air quality, meanwhile, continued to remain in the very poor category for the second consecutive day. The AQI was 346 on Saturday and 345 the previous day. “The air quality is likely to stay in the very poor category till Jan 13 and six days thereafter,” said Air Quality Early Warning System, which functions under Union ministry of earth sciences.
