There will be no respite from the prevailing cold wave conditions in north India and North-East. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday predicted that the minimum temperature may go below 5 degrees Celsius in the days to come till February.
In the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region, the minimum temperatures have dropped several notches below the freezing point. The minimum temperature was minus 2.8 in Srinagar, while it was minus 8.4 and minus 4.0 in Pahalgam and Gulmarg respectively.
In Delhi and NCR, an unnerving combo of cold wave and pollution is set to haunt the residents in the coming days. The air pollution level in the NCR has reached severe level these days.
The IMD issued a cold wave warning saying the minimum temperature may go down below two degrees Celsius at a few places in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan. According to IMD, the night temperature in Delhi and NCR could further drop to around 4 degrees in the coming days.
“The cold wave and severe cold wave conditions would continue to prevail over Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan with increase in severity and spatial coverage. At some places, the temperature may go down below 2 degrees Celsius,” the IMD said.
The combined effect of a current weather system over north India resulted in dropping night temperatures. Due to northerly and northwesterly winds, the chill could be felt in parts of the State.
Elaborating the cold wave conditions, Dr Charan Singh, Scientist, IMD, said whenever minimum temperatures are 4-5 degrees Celsius below their normal, it is then termed as a cold wave condition. “During cold wave conditions, the minimums drop, and maximums rise. The minimums tend to drop when northerly winds blow,” Singh added.
Singh said that during cold wave, the normal wind speed is recorded between 5 to 10 km per hour in winter season.
Cold wave conditions are invariably related with clear weather. On the other hand, cold day conditions are related with clouding. It is termed as a cold day when the day temperature falls, and night temperature rises. The IMD also issued warning that the ground frost conditions are likely to prevail over Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in the coming days.
Kargil was the coldest town at minus 14.9 while Leh recorded minus 6 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Narnaul was the coldest place recording a low of 2.3 degrees Celsius. In Punjab Faridkot also reeled under intense chill recording a low of 2.5 degrees Celsius, while severe cold prevailed in Bathinda at 3 degrees Celsius. In Delhi, the minimum temperature was recorded at 5.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal making it the coldest December day since 2015.