Delhi’s cold third worst in 23 yrs, IMD issues second spell warning from 14 Jan

Delhi experienced a cold wave and sudden plunge in temperatures for five consecutive days in January 2023. RK Jenamani, senior scientist, IMD said that Delhi experienced a cold wave right from January 3-9 which is almost 5 days, according to news agency ANI.  

“During these five days, the temperature was around two to four degrees. As per the data available with us, this was the third worst cold spell in 23 years. From the year 2000 to the year 2023, we find that 3-9 Jan cold spell was the third worst cold spell in the last 23 years,” he said.

A cold spell means the number of days we experienced which is in the range of 5 to 6 days. A similar situation was there in the year 2006 when we had the lowest temperature of 1.9 degrees Celsius. In 2013 also, we had a similar cold spell, and January 3-9 was the third worst cold spell in the last 23 years.

IMD has also predicted rain, drizzle and snowfall on January 12, and a second spell of cold spell on January 14.

Jenamani said that there will be light rain or drizzle in states like Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Western UP and North Rajasthan.

“For the Himalayan states like Jammu and Kashmir mainly Kashmir, we expect heavy rain or snow on Jan 12. We expect rain or snowfall in Himachal and Uttarakhand between January 11-14,” he said.

He said that we are also giving a second cold spell warning from January 14th.

“There will be fresh cold spells over northwestern and Punjab. We have not confirmed but we are reviewing whether the daily temperature will further come down to three degrees or not. Western Disturbance is very active and there are chances that there might be a cold spell from Jan 14,” he said.

Jenamani further said that there will be clouding and fresh moisture pertaining to the Western disturbance.

“The Western disturbance is expected to hit over the western Himalayan region and also plane area during 11 to 14th Jan. It will lead to clouding and fresh moisture also. Because of the windy condition, the dense fog condition will improve further. There was dense fog at the Delhi airport in the past 24 hours. But in the main city, it was relatively lesser fog,” he said.

He further said that although the condition is improving, the worst condition persists over Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

“So far, the condition is improving, but Bihar and Uttar Pradesh remain in the worst condition,” he said.