Cold wave: Delhi temperature likely to drop to 1°C tomorrow
Delhi experienced the season's coldest temperature in the early hours of Monday as the minimum temperature nosedived to 1.4 degrees Celsius amid a fresh cold wave spell. The mercury level witnessed a drop of nearly nine degrees in two days. Delhi's minimum temperature was 4.7°C on Sunday and 10.2°C on Saturday. Monday's temperature was also reportedly the lowest for this month since January 2021.
Why does this story matter?
- Delhi saw an intense, five-day cold wave at the beginning of the month, the second longest for January in a decade. By the end of last week, it had recorded over 50 hours of dense fog, the highest for January since 2019.
- After a brief respite, an alert was issued predicting another cold wave. A meteorologist even predicted the temperature could drop to -4°C.
Rajasthan's Churu coldest in plains at -2.5 degrees Celsius
A cold wave coupled with fog prevailed over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and isolated parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Rajasthan's Churu, located near the Thar Desert, was the coldest in the plains, with a minimum temperature of -2.5 degrees Celsius. Haryana's Hisar recorded a minimum temperature of 0.8 degrees Celsius, while Amritsar in Punjab witnessed 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Cold wave to subside after Wednesday
School winter break extended further
In view of the bone-chilling temperatures, the winter break for schools, which was extended last week, has been further extended for students up to Class 8 in Chandigarh, Rajasthan's Udaipur, and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, the minimum temperature in Delhi is expected to drop by 1-2°C from current levels on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Cold wave to persist for 3 more days: IMD
Separately, reduced visibility due to dense fog delayed several trains on Monday. Morever, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted the cold wave will persist for three more days. Many parts of central and northwest India are likely to experience a 2°C drop in temperatures over the next two days. From Wednesday, however, the temperature is likely to rise by 3-5 degrees Celsius.
