The temperature in Delhi is expected to plummet to 3 degrees Celsius this week, according to the recent forecast of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). It is also expected that a cold wave will tighten its hold on the northern belt of the country, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, till December 14.
Delhi’s minimum temperature on Monday stands at around 8 degrees Celsius, but the winter chill is expected to intensify in the next couple of days due to the early onset of snowfall in the northern states, and the isolated spells of rainfall across the national capital and border-sharing states.
IMD also predicted light to moderate rain in parts of Delhi NCR on Monday, caused by the influence of a Western Disturbance. The MeT department has predicted thick fog in the capital on December 9 and 10, expected to hamper visibility and impact traffic.
“Under the influence of a western disturbance, light or moderate rainfall and snowfall is likely over western Himalayan region during December 9 to 11, and light isolated rainfall over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh on Sunday is possible. There is a possibility of light rain or drizzle in Delhi on Sunday as well. There might be some mist in the night too,” IMD said in its forecast.
Haryana’s Hisar recorded a lowest temperature of 4.7 degrees Celsius on December 8, making it the coldest city in the region for now.
Meanwhile, the rainfall in Delhi last night improved the air quality index (AQI) of the city, putting it in the ‘poor’ category with a reading of 273. Before that, Delhi’s AQI remained in the ‘very poor’ category for days.
Majority of Delhi’s 38 monitoring stations saw the AQI in the ‘poor’ category, while four areas showed an AQI in the ‘very poor’ category, according to the 24 hour average recorded at 3 am on December 9.