Delhi cold wave: Temperature drops to 6.4 degrees; IMD predicts rain for freezing Himachal Pradesh, other states
The cold wave has been intensifying across much of north India since Wednesday, with night temperatures in the Kashmir Valley dropping below, mercury in parts of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh approaching the freezing point and Delhi logging a drop in temperature.
Foggy Delhi recorded a significant drop in temperature on Thursday morning, with the mercury hitting 6.4 degrees Celsius, compared to the 8-11 degrees the city had been recording for the last couple of days.
While data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) logged Delhi’s temperature at 6.4 degrees Celsius at 5.30 am on Thursday, the weather monitoring agency predicted the minimum temperature for the day to be somewhere around 5 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 21 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi remained in the ‘poor’ category on Thursday morning, same as the day before.
Meanwhile, the air quality was recorded in the “poor” category with a reading of 287 at 6 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data.
North India weather updates
Rain, snow forecast: The IMD said there is a possibility of rain and snowfall in parts of northwest India later in the week owing to a western disturbance. The IMD said in its Wednesday bulletin that minimum temperatures are likely to fall by about 2 degrees Celsius in northwest India during the next 24 hours and a gradual rise by 2-4 degrees thereafter.
The weather department said that cold wave conditions are very likely in isolated pockets over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab on Thursday and Friday; Rajasthan on Friday; Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh on Friday and Saturday.
Delhi temp drops sharply: Delhi, which witnessed a sunny afternoon on Wednesday, woke up with moderate in most parts on Thursday. Delhi’s neighbouring areas such as Noida and Ghaziabad were also foggy. Delhi recorded a sharp drop in temperature on Thursday morning with the mercury hovering around 6.4 degrees Celsius, as per IMD’s 5:30 am data. The city was recording 8 degrees to 11 degrees Celsius around the same time for the last few days.
The air quality in Delhi was in the ‘poor’ category on Thursday morning, with the AQI at 299 at 7 am, as per the data of the Central Pollution Control Board. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good,’ 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory,’ 101 and 200 ‘moderate,’ 201 and 300 ‘poor,’ 301 and 400 ‘very poor,’ and 401 and 500 ‘severe.’
Himachal Pradesh: Several areas of the hill state of Himachal Pradesh have been witnessing freezing cold weather, with Tabo in the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district recording the coldest temperature at night on Wednesday, dipping to minus 13.6 degrees Celsius. Officials cited in a news agency PTI report said also added that there is a possibility of snowfall in the mid and high hills on Saturday and Sunday. Like on Wednesday, the weather department issued a yellow warning for Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi districts for Thursday.
Kashmir weather: In Jammu and Kashmir, after a brief respite, cold in the Kashmir Valley intensified on Wednesday with night temperatures falling below the freezing point. The minimum temperature in Srinagar was recorded at minus 1 degree Celsius, down from the previous night’s 0.9 degrees, it said. The city had witnessed bright sunshine in the morning. Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 9.8 degrees Celsius, compared to the previous night’s minus 6.6 degrees, and was the coldest recorded place in the valley.