Warmer day, colder night for Capital; Met predicts some respite by Jan-end

A day after recording the city’s coldest January day in nine years, the maximum temperature rose by 4-5°C in most parts of Delhi on Wednesday even as “cold day” and “severe cold day” conditions prevailed in many areas.

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Safdarjung, Delhi’s base station, recorded a maximum temperature of 16.4°C on Wednesday – six degrees below the normal mark for this time of the year.

Narela was Delhi’s coldest location on Wednesday, with the temperature peaking at 14.7°C.

It was the third consecutive cold day for Delhi, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted similar conditions will persist on Thursday as well.

The impact of the cold was not just limited to the daytime temperature, however, with Delhi also recording a minimum of 5.8°C on Wednesday – three degrees below the normal mark, and down from 6.2°C a day ago.

While IMD has predicted that the city’s maximum temperature will gradually rise to 17-18°C over the next three days, the minimum is expected to hover around 4-5°C, with parts of Delhi still likely to record “cold wave” conditions.

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IMD classifies a “cold day” if the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees or more below normal, with the minimum settling below the 10-degree mark. It is a “severe cold day” if the maximum is 6.5 degrees or more below the normal mark. Similarly for “cold wave” conditions to be declared, the minimum temperature should either be 4.5 degrees or more below the normal mark, or it should be 4 degrees Celsius or lower.

IMD scientist RK Jenamani said the maximum temperature is expected to rise gradually, with an active western disturbance likely to raise the temperature further from January 28.

“By the end of the month, the maximum temperature will touch 19°C, but for the next three days, we may see the minimum fall to around 4-5°C. The maximum temperature may hover around 16-17°C for the next two days, with a rise expected from January 29,” he said, adding that the dip in minimum temperature was a result of colder winds from the snow-clad mountains blowing towards Delhi.

Delhi’s average maximum temperature for the month has been hovering at 17.6°C – 2.4 degrees below the normal. Met officials say that at present, Delhi is on course to record its coldest January since 2003, when the average maximum temperature for the month was also 17.6°C.

Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of just 12.1 degrees on Tuesday, which was 10 degrees below the normal mark. This was Delhi’s coldest day of the season and the coldest January day in the last nine years, since it fell to 9.8°C on January 3, 2013. Data shared by IMD from 1951 showed Tuesday (January 25 this year) ranked as the seventh lowest maximum for January. However, the other six lows came were all recorded between January 1 and 10, making such a late drop in temperature also fairly unusual.

Th forecast for Thursday shows Delhi could record a maximum of 17°C at Safdarjung, with the minimum hovering around 5°C.

Delhi’s air quality remained in the “poor” category on Wednesday, with an overall 24-hour average AQI of 260, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily 4pm bulletin. It was marginally lower at 234 on Tuesday.