At the Safdarjung Observatory, which is considered the official marker for the capital town, the temperature dropped down to a stooping low of four degrees celsius which is four notches below the normal temperature. On Monday the temperature was recorded at 3.2 degrees celsius making it the lowest for the winters of 2021 so far and was also 5 notches down the normal temperature at this time.
The weather was quite chilly in the morning even though there was a marginal swell in the mercury level. Relative Humidity was at 94 percent, reported the Indian Meteorological Department ( IMD ).
The criteria for declaration of a cold wave in the plains, according to the IMD is when the minimum temperature is recorded at 4 degrees celsius and it can also be declared if the minimum temperature dips below 10 degrees or is 4.5 notches below the normal temperatures. In the evening, the temperature rose to 22.4 degrees Celsius, which is just a notch above the normal, with the Relative Humidity was 58 percent.
The weather for Wednesday was forecasted to be around five degrees Celsius and 23 degrees Celsius minimum and maximum respectively. Because the two “back-to-back” western disturbances and the cold-westerly winds which have slowed down from Tuesday will increase the minimum temperature stated R K Jenamani ( a scientist at the Indian Meteorological Department ).
Cold wave conditions were observed yesterday at a few places in the northern part of the country mostly over Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and at remote pockets over Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Saurashtra, and Kutch, Vidarbha and Telangana, an official reported. On Monday, the maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 21 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal.
The air quality index of Delhi in the morning was 380, which is in the ‘very poor category, which degraded to the ‘severe’ category later that evening, according to CPCB ( Central Pollution Control Board data ). The air pollution infamously called the ‘Smog’ is usually the main concern of the government every year. This year due to the spread of the Coronavirus, many restrictions have been imposed for the upcoming festival season which is expected to bring down the air pollution level too. And that will dim down the severity of the harsh winters, hopefully.
