According to the IMD, maximum and minimum temperatures in Delhi would hover around 18 and 3 degrees celsius on Monday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that cold wave to severe cold wave conditions will persist over parts North India till January 18, until western disturbances provide some relief starting Thursday.
There will be a fall in the minimum temperatures by about 2 degrees Celsius over parts of Northern and Central India till January 17 and a gradual rise by 3-5 degrees Celsius during January 18 to 20, the weather department said.
According to the IMD’s bulletin released on Sunday, a fresh Western disturbance is likely to affect Western Himalayan region on the night of January 18, bringing light to moderate rainfall or snowfall over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Western Disturbance is an extra-tropical weather system that originates in the Mediterranean sea and brings rain and/or snowfall to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
Dense fog is expected during the early morning hours in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh over the next five days.
Fall in minimum temperatures by 2-3 degrees Celsius very likely over East India till 17th and gradual rise by 2-3 degrees during January 18 to 21, the IMD said. The Western Disturbance is likely to bring light rainfall or snowfall over Arunachal Pradesh from January 21 to 23.
The minimum temperature in Delhi dropped to 1.4 degree Celsius early on Monday, marking a ‘severe’ cold wave day for Delhi, since the minimum temperature is less than 2 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature in the national capital on Sunday had settled at 4.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average.
Meanwhile, intense cold weather conditions continued to persist in Haryana and Punjab yesterday, with Punjab’s Faridkot shivering at minus 1 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh, the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded 6.7 degrees Celsius. Winter break for students up to class eighth in Chandigarh have been extended, keeping in view the stern cold and fog spell in the region.
The Saurashtra and Kutch regions and parts of Karnataka also witnessed cold wave conditions on Sunday. Also, Mumbai woke up to the coldest day of the season on Sunday as the minimum (night) temperature recorded at the Santacruz observatory of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) was 13.8 degrees Celsius, four degrees below the normal temperature.
