Officials from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the minimum temperature could rise on Monday and Tuesday.
The minimum temperature was the lowest on Lodhi Road at 3.3 degrees Celsius. Last year, mercury plummeted below 4 ° C in the last week of December alone. In 2019, the lowest minimum temperature was recorded on December 28 at 2.4 ° Celsius. The historical record for the lowest minimum temperature was recorded on December 27, 1930 at zero degrees Celsius.
IMD officials said a cold snap occurs when the minimum temperature is 4 degrees or more below normal. Sunday was the third cold wave registered in the city. The base observatory in Safdarjung recorded a maximum temperature of 22.4 degrees Celsius, which was normal for this time of year.
Kuldeep Srivastava, IMD scientist and director of the Regional Weather Forecast Center, said: “The minimum temperature dropped mainly due to the clear sky as Delhi received cold winds from the mountains where snow has fallen. The absence of cloud cover makes that the days are warm, while the heat has been dissipating rapidly during the night, which has caused a drop in temperature. ”
The forecast for Monday says that the minimum temperature is likely to rise to six degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature may remain around 22 degrees Celsius. Partly cloudy skies are also predicted along with shallow fog or haze. “However, it is likely that the minimum temperature will begin to drop as of Wednesday and may be around 4 degrees Celsius from December 23 to 26. Moderate to dense fog along with cold wave conditions are forecast for the same period,” said an official.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality deteriorated to “very poor” on Sunday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 321 against 290 on Saturday.
System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, the forecasting body under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said: “Overall air quality is at the lower end of the very poor category. Winds in the Moderate and west-southwest cold. Daytime conditions are forecast to intensify in the region and surface winds are likely to decrease. Current best dispersal conditions are likely to diminish. Therefore, it is forecast that the AQI will deteriorate to the mid end of the very poor category on Monday and further deteriorate to the upper end of very poor on December 22 and 23. ”
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