Severe cold wave swept Delhi on New Year’s Day as the temperature plummeted to 1.1 degree Celsius, the lowest in 14 years. Dense fog reduced visibility to “zero” meters, affecting traffic movement in the national capital.
The lowest minimum temperature recorded in January last year was 2.4 degree Celsius, the India Meterological Department (IMD ) said. On January 8, 2006, the city had recorded a minimum of 0.2 degree Celsius.
Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said “very dense” fog lowered visibility to “zero” metres at Safdarjung and Palam at 6 am.
According to the IMD, “very dense” fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres. In case of “dense” fog, visibility is between 51 and 200 metres, “moderate” 201 and 500 metres, and “shallow” 501 and 1,000 metres.
The cold wave is likely to continue on Friday as well. Thereafter, the minimum temperature will start rising under the influence of an “intense” Western Disturbance (WD) which will affect northwest India from January 2 to January 6, said Srivastava.
The minimum temperature is predicted to rise to eight degrees Celsius by January 4-5.
Light rain is also expected in the national capital under the influence of the WD from January 3 to January 5.
