A bitter cold continues to tightly embrace vast swathes of north India, sending shivers down spines and shrouding cities in dense fog. As the cold wave tightens its grip on Delhi, residents of the national capital woke up to a freezing morning on Wednesday, with the maximum temperature settling at 15.7 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. Parts of the capital city, including Palam, Jafarpur, Lodhi Road, Ridge, Narela, and Mayur Vihar, appeared to be the coldest areas, where the maximum temperature hovered around 13.7 degrees Celsius to 15 degrees Celsius, four to five notches below normal.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature recorded was 7.3 degrees Celsius, which is the seasonal average. In Lodhi Road, the maximum temperature was recorded at 16.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature settled at 8.3 degrees Celsius. In Ridge, the maximum temperature was recorded at 16.4 degrees Celsius.
The Palam weather observation station also recorded a maximum temperature of 14.9 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the maximum temperature recorded was 13.7 degrees Celsius in Jafarpur, 15.4 degrees Celsius in Narela, and 14.6 degrees Celsius in SPS Mayur Vihar.
The maximum temperature is consistently dropping below the season’s normal, leading to biting cold day conditions in the national capital region.
The normal maximum temperature for Delhi at this time is 19.3 degrees Celsius, and the normal minimum is 6.9 degrees. According to IMD officials, “In most parts of the capital city, the maximum temperature has settled below the normal, which is the reason for the cold here.”
“In Delhi, the temperature is set to hold steady over the next two days, while in some areas, it may drop to around 6 or 7.5 degrees Celsius,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist and head of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre. Srivastava added that the first 10 days of January are considered the coldest, but it is relatively warmer this year compared to the previous year.
The cold snap has been particularly harsh for Delhi’s homeless people, most of whom sleep on pavements. The cold wave has also been causing health issues, especially in Delhi, which experiences severe pollution levels during the winter months.
Dense fog enveloped parts of Delhi, reducing visibility at Safdarjung and Palam to 500 metres and 600 metres, respectively, at 7:30 am, even as the air quality remained very poor. No flights were canceled or diverted until 10 am at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
A dense layer of fog also engulfed parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan amid the prevailing cold wave conditions in North India on Wednesday. According to northern railways, 26 Delhi-bound trains were delayed by one to 10 hours due to fog.
An Air Quality Index (AQI) of 328 (considered very poor) was recorded at 9 am, settling at 341 at 4 pm on Wednesday, while it was 340 (very poor) on Tuesday. It is expected to remain in the very poor category until Friday and then gradually improve. According to the IMD, a cyclonic circulation over northwest UP and Haryana is causing alternating waves of warm and cold winds to blow towards Delhi.
December 2023 was the national capital’s warmest month in six years, with the city not recording a single ‘cold wave day’ during the month, as per the IMD.
Meanwhile, Piyush Tewari, founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, emphasised, “A critical aspect to bear in mind during foggy conditions is refraining from speeding. Fog can create a misleading sense of slow motion, masking actual high speeds. With foggy conditions necessitating abrupt stoppages, only low speed may prevent accidents.”
During foggy months, drivers should consciously opt for driving on low-beam as high-beam is reflected back by fog, said the CEO of the road safety organisation. “During fog, the chances of rear-end collisions are high. To prevent such collisions, we must avoid sudden turns or mid-road stoppage in fog. Using blinkers while stalled and moving away from your stalled vehicle is a good way to stay safe,” Tewari added.
Transport and traffic police departments of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, as well as Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, have, over the last month, issued fog advisories asking people to drive carefully. The Delhi Traffic Police recently advised people to drive with their vehicle’s tail lights on, honk periodically, not overtake while passing through dense fog, keep vehicle windows and mirrors clean, and use defroster and windscreen wipers.
