Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees Celsius at 8.30am on Wednesday.
There is moderate fog with Delhi’s Palam recording visibility under 200 metres Wednesday morning. Amritsar, Patiala and Jammu have visibility of less than 50 metres.
Air quality in most towns and cities in northwest India is in “poor” category. However, it has improved significantly since Sunday because of strong winds. The average wind speed in Delhi on Monday was around 15kmph.
Under the influence of the strengthening of cold and dry northwesterly/ northerly lower-level winds, minimum temperatures are likely to fall by about 2 degrees Celsius over most parts of northwest and Central India during the next two days and rise by 3-5 degrees Celsius thereafter for the subsequent three days (January 1 to 3). “Cold wave” to “severe cold wave” conditions are likely in many parts of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Kutch during the next three days according to IMD’s Tuesday bulletin.
“Cold wave” conditions are very likely in Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha during December 30 to January 1. Dense to very dense fog is very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttarakhand during the next three days.
A cold wave occurs in plains when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and/or is 4.5 notches lesser than the season’s normal for two consecutive days. Cold wave is also declared when the minimum temperature is less than 4 degrees Celsius in the plains.
Ground frost conditions are likely in north Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during the next two days.
“Many parts of northwest India are reaching the freezing point. We are expecting December 31 to be the coldest. Around January 2, a cyclonic circulation is likely to form over south Rajasthan and anticyclone over Chhattisgarh and Odisha. A confluence zone is likely to develop over Madhya Pradesh and east Rajasthan which is likely to bring rain to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, climate change and meteorology, Skymet Weather.
