The cold wave spell continued in the national capital and other parts of north India as the minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 7 degrees Celcius on early Tuesday morning. Dense fog was spotted as the cold wave continued in Delhi. Meteorologists attributed the sharp drop in day temperatures to frigid northwesterly winds barrelling through the plains and reduced sunshine due to foggy weather.
Earlier on Monday, the India Meteorological Department predicted cold day/severe cold day conditions in Delhi.
“Cold Day/Severe Cold Day Conditions very likely in some parts over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and West Rajasthan and cold day conditions in isolated pockets over Uttarakhand on 26th and 27th December 2022,” IMD had said in a bulletin at 3.30 pm on Monday.
“The winds were west-northwesterly but now they are north-northwesterly, blowing at about 10kmph over Delhi. A layer of upper haze when morning fog hasn’t lifted completely and is also obscuring sunshine during the day giving a feel of biting cold. These conditions will last for a day before temperatures rise gradually,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate and meteorology, Skymet Weather to Hindustan Times.
The weather department had also predicted dense to very dense fog in Delhi and nearby regions.
“Due to prevailing light wind and high moisture in lower tropospheric levels, Dense to Very Dense Fog very likely to continue over some parts of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and West Rajasthan during the next 48 hours,” the IMD said on Monday.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather, said a western disturbance led to a fresh spell of snowfall in the mountains on December 25-26 and cold northwesterly winds are now sweeping through the plains after its retreat.
“An increase in the humidity levels due to the WD resulted in dense to very dense fog which reduced the sunshine, pulling down the day temperature further,” he said. Palawat said the wind chill factor — a measure of the rate of heat loss from skin that is exposed to the air — is also high.
The higher the wind speed during cold weather, the colder it feels on the skin if a person is outside.
Delhi clocked a top wind speed of 15 kilometres per hour on Monday.
Biting cold conditions and dense fog were reported in several parts of Punjab and Haryana, with Narnaul being the coldest in the region at 2.4 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, Hisar recorded a piercing cold as the minimum temperature plunged to 2.5 degrees Celsius. Ambala recorded a low of 7.7 degrees Celsius, Karnal 6.8 degrees Celsius, Rohtak 6.6 degrees Celsius, Bhiwani 5.5 degrees Celsius, and Sirsa 5.2 degrees Celsius.
Earlier on Monday, the national capital New Delhi reeled under a cold wave and foggy conditions. Delhi on Sunday recorded a minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees celsius while most parts of northern India, witnessed temperatures in a range between 3 to 7 degrees Celsius said India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday.
According to the IMD, ‘very dense’ fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 metres is ‘dense’, 201 and 500 ‘moderate’, and 501 and 1,000 ‘shallow.’
In the plains, the IMD declares a cold wave if the minimum temperature dips to 4 degrees Celsius. A cold wave is also declared when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and is 4.5 notches below normal.
A ‘severe’ cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to two degrees Celsius or the departure from normal is more than 6.4 degrees Celsius.
*With inputs from agencies
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