Cold wave continues in Delhi-NCR, rain likely on NYE

Delhi and its satellite towns are likely to be hit by a spell of rain on the last day of year not only dampening the new year celebrations but also compounding the woes of the residents who continue to battle the biting chill.

Though the Sun came out during the day, the maximum and minimum temperature in Delhi National Capital Region remained way below the normal, sending shuddering cold waves to people, most of preferred to remain indoors under thick layers of woolens and blankets.

There wasn't any hope from the weather bureau with the India Meteorological Department predicting “wet spell over northwest and central India between December 31 and January 3” and “severe cold wave and cold day conditions over northern India” till Dec 31.

The dense to very dense fog that typically disrupt flights and delay train movement would continue for the next two days as the intensity will decrease from December 31 afternoon because of an increase in the wind speed.

For the plains, IMD defines “cold” when maximum temperature ranges between 4.5-6.4 degrees Celsius below normal and “severe cold” when the maximum temperature is 6.5 degrees below normal. The criteria is different for the hills and coast.

The average maximum temperature on Sunday was recorded at 15.8 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal while the minimum temperature at Safderjung weather station (considered proxy for Delhi) was 3.6 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature recorded at three other Delhi weather stations were even less - 2.5 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar, 2.8 degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road and 3.2 degrees Celsius at Palam.

With the mean maximum temperature being 19.07 degrees Celsius till Sunday, it was likely that December 2019 would go down in the history as the second coldest December since 1901. The coldest maximum temperature was recorded in December 1997 when the mercury dropped to 17.3 degrees Celsius.

The upcoming spell of the winter rainfall would be triggered by a fresh Western Disturbance (a Mediterranean storm that travels across Asia) that would interact with easterly winds. Most of the northern states would experience rain, thunderstorm and hailstorms.