Winds to push mercury down this week in Delhi: IMD

After southeasterly winds raised Delhi’s minimum temperature over the last three days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday forecast that with a change in the wind direction, the Capital will witness a drop in the mercury for the remainder of the week.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 15.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and 13.2°C on Wednesday, which is around normal for this time of the year. However, with northwesterly winds now blowing towards the city, the IMD has forecast that the minimum temperature will drop to around 11°C by Thursday and hover around that mark till Saturday.

Delhi also recorded a high of 27.5°C on Wednesday – one degree below normal. This too is forecast to drop to around 26°C by Friday.

“The impact of a western disturbance across northern India saw temperatures rising by 2-3 degrees at night during the period November 13-15. The southeasterly winds have transitioned to westerly and northwesterly winds now, and this will bring cold winds to the Capital. The mercury is set to drop by 2-3 degrees in the coming days and will remain around 11 degrees now,” said RK Jenamani, scientist at IMD.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president of private weather forecaster Skymet said temperatures in northwest and central India are also expected to drop during this period. “Single digit minimum cannot be ruled out for parts of Haryana and Rajasthan during this period. Delhi will see a low between 11-12 degrees,” he said.

So far, the lowest temperature recorded this winter season in Delhi has been 12.6°C on both November 12 and 13. On November 14, warmer winds led to the minimum rising to 14.1°C.

According to the long-period average (LPA), the average normal minimum for the period November 12-16 is 13.6°C, while for November 17-21 is 12.4°C degrees, for November 22-26 is 11.3°C and for November 27-30 is 9.9°C. However, data from previous years shows that in November, Delhi’s minimum temperature can drop to as much as 6.3°C (on November 23, 2020) or 7.6°C (November 24, 2017).

Delhi’s air quality, meanwhile, continued to remain in the ‘poor’ category for a third consecutive day, with the city recording an overall air quality index (AQI) of 264 as per Central Pollution Control Board’s national bulletin, released at 4 pm each day -- a deterioration from the 227 recorded on Tuesday.

As per the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, a forecasting system under the ministry of earth sciences, the AQI is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ category on Thursday as well. However, on Friday, the air quality is set to deteriorate to the ‘very poor’ category and remain in that category on Saturday as well. “The outlook for subsequent six days shows the air quality is likely to remain largely between the ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ category,” EWS said.