Delhi continues to shiver with an intense cold wave and fog. However, the residents of the national capital will likely get some respite soon, probably around January 7, an IMD official told PTI. The official said that this could happen under the influence of a fresh Western Disturbance, which is likely to affect northwest India starting January 7.
The Safdarjung observatory recorded Delhi’s temperature at 8.5 degrees on Tuesday, 4.4 degrees on Wednesday, and 4 degrees Celsius on Thursday. The Capital logged a minimum temperature of three degrees Celcius on Thursday, making it the lowest temperature recorded in January in the last two years.
Dense fog in Delhi has been affecting the rail and road traffic as well. A visibility level of 200 metres at 5.30 was recorded near Indira Gandhi International Airport by the Palam observatory. As per the weather office, ‘very dense’ fog is to be only considered when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres. Fog recorded at 51 and 200 metres will fall under the ‘dense category’ while 201 and 500 metres will come under ‘moderate’ and 501 and 1,000 metres will be termed as ‘ shallow’.
The Met office declares a cold wave in the plains only if the minimum temperature goes down to four degrees Celsius or when it is at 10 degrees or below and registers 4.5 mark below the normal. On the other hand, a severely cold day is to be considered when the maximum temperature is 6.5 degrees Celsius or above below the normal.
On Thursday, the national capital logged a minimum temperature of three degrees Celsius which has been the lowest temperature recorded in January in two years, making it cooler than various hill stations.