Winter Wave Makes Delhi Colder Than Dharamshala, Nainital, Another Spell Likely From January 1

Most parts of Northern India, including the national capital New Delhi, are in the grip of an intense cold wave, which has disrupted everyday life for days.

On Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that the minimum temperature in the national capital is expected to remain around 7 degrees Celsius throughout the day.

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There is some good news as the IMD has said that the cold day conditions are likely to abate over northwest India from Wednesday.

Short-lived respite from cold wave

From Dec 28 onwards, there will be a significant improvement as the cold wave will go due to western disturbance.

But this will be a short-lived respite as fresh cold wave conditions shall prevail again from December 31 to January 1, 2023.

"Dense to very dense fog will continue to prevail in the belt. There will be an improvement on Dec 29 because of a western disturbance that will bring fresh snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Leh and Himachal Pradesh. There will be drizzle in north Punjab on Dec 29," IMD weather scientist RK Jenamani said.

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Delhi colder than hill stations

On Tuesday, Aya Nagar in Delhi recorded 4.0 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature this winter.

In fact, on Tuesday, parts of the national capital recorded minimum temperature below that of hill stations Dharamshala and Nainital on Tuesday.

With a high windchill factor -- a measure of the heat loss rate from skin exposed to the air -- in play, cold day conditions prevailed in some parts of the city, such as Palam and Jafarpur.

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A cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees Celsius below normal and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees below normal. A severe cold day is a maximum of 6.5 degrees or more below normal.

The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, logged a minimum temperature of 5.6 degrees Celsius -- a notch below normal. The maximum temperature settled at 17.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.

In comparison, the minimum temperature in Dehradun was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius, Dharamshala at 6.2 degrees Celsius, and Nainital at 7.2 degrees Celsius.

Meteorologists attributed the sharp drop in day temperatures to frigid north-westerly winds barrelling through the plains and reduced sunshine due to foggy weather.

Entire North India under cold wave

It is not just Delhi; the minimum temperatures in adjoining states, including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh and northwest Madhya Pradesh, were recorded in the range of 3-7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

The lowest minimum temperature of 0.5 degrees Celsius was reported at Churu in west Rajasthan.

According to the Metrological Department, the cold wave to severe cold wave conditions prevailed in many of Himachal Pradesh and isolated pockets over Haryana and north Rajasthan on Tuesday.

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