Delhi set to ring in New Year in chilly weather; cold wave to severe cold wave likely till January 3

New Delhi, December 30

A cold wave swept Delhi on Thursday as people in the city gear up to ring in a chilly New Year with the weather department predicting similar conditions till January 3.

The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official marker for the national capital, dropped sharply to 3.4 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. On Wednesday it was 8.4 degrees Celsius.

The automatic weather stations at Delhi's Ayanagar and Narela on Thursday recorded a minimum temperature of 3.8 degrees Celsius and 3.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Delhi had experienced cold wave conditions on December 20 and 21 when the minimum temperature settled at 3.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest this season so far, and 4 degrees Celsius.

Thereafter, two back-to-back western disturbances and the resultant slowing down of cold northwesterly winds and cloudy conditions gradually pushed the minimum temperature up to 9.8 degrees Celsius.

Clouds trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation and radiate it back downward, warming the ground.

The IMD has predicted cold wave to severe cold wave conditions in northwest India till January 3.

The weather department predicted the minimum temperature will start increasing from January 4 under the influence of an active western disturbance which is likely to cause fairly widespread rain and snow over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh between January 4 and 7.

It will also lead to "light to moderate scattered to fairly widespread" rain over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh Delhi, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh between January 5 and January 7. PTI

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