Delhi Sees Coldest November Morning In 14 Years, Cold Wave May Hit The Capital

The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 8.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday, a day after the city witnessed its coldest November morning in 14 years.

The minimum temperature was recorded at four notches below normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

BCCL

At 7.5 degrees Celsius, Delhi on Friday recorded its lowest minimum temperature in the month of November since November 29, 2006, when the city recorded a low of 7.3 degrees Celsius.

Officially cold wave

This is the third day when the minimum temperature is below 10¡ãC. Hence, it is officially a cold wave situation as the temperature is also almost 5¡ãC below normal.

For the plains, the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) 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, reported PTI.

BCCL

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre had said that this criteria was met on Friday. "We will declare a cold wave in Delhi if the situation persists on Saturday,¡± he had told PTI.

The IMD had earlier said the minimum temperature in Delhi will drop to 9 degrees Celsius by Saturday, as cold winds have started blowing from hilly regions, which have witnessed a fresh bout of snowfall.

AFP

Temperature 2-3 degrees below normal

The minimum temperature this month, barring November 16, has remained 2-3 degree Celsius below normal in the absence of a cloud cover, according to IMD officials. The all-time record for the lowest minimum temperature in November is 3.9 degrees Celsius recorded on November 28, 1938, reported PTI.

Mahesh Palawat, an expert at Skymet Weather, a private forecasting agency, told PTI that cold winds blowing from snow-laden western Himalayas have led to a dip in the mercury and a similar situation will continue till Saturday.

BCCL

Coldest October since 1962

The month of October this year was the coldest in 58 years in the national capital. The mean minimum temperature in October this year was recorded as 17.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest since 1962, when it was 16.9 degrees Celsius.

AFP/Getty Images

Delhi had recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 11.5 degrees Celsius last year, 10.5 degrees Celsius in 2018 and 7.6 degrees Celsius in 2017 in the month of November.