Delhi cold wave: it was 3.9°C, lowest temperature since 2017

NEW DELHI: Delhiites woke on Friday on the coldest morning of the season with mercury plummeting to 3.9 degrees Celcius, 3 degrees below normal. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the lowest temperature was recorded between 2 and  5 am on Friday. Moreover, Friday’s minimum temperature was the lowest for this date since 2018. On January 12, 2017, the city recorded a low of 3 degrees C, it showed.

A cold wave is when the minimum dips to around 2°C.In this season, the previous lowest temperature 4.9 degrees C, was recorded on December 15.“On Thursday and Friday, we have seen the impact of clear skies, which has dipped the mercury. Calm winds also allowed fog to form close to the surface,” said an IMD official.

On Thursday, the minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees C was registered, two degrees below normal. The maximum temperature of 18.1 degrees on Thursday, two degrees below normal. The minimum temperature is likely to rise again from Saturday as a fresh western disturbance approaches the northern plains bringing cloudiness, the weather department said.

The maximum temperature, the IMD has forecast, will be around 19-20 degrees C over the weekend. Meanwhile, the city’s air quality remained very poor on Friday. An average air quality index (AQI) of 348 (very poor) was recorded at 9 am on Friday. It was the same at 4 pm on Thursday. The air quality was likely to be very poor until next week, the weather department said. 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’.

Zero visibility, over 50 flights delayed

Dense fog blanketed many parts of the city on Friday morning with the Palam Observatory reporting zero visibility at 5:30 am, according to the weather departmenrt. Over 50 flights were delayed while services of 23 Delhi-bound trains were affected, officials said.