For the fifth day in a row, Delhi is more frigid than Shimla, Nainital, and Manali.
This chilly snap has the nation’s capital under a record-breaking cold spell. Surprisingly, Delhi now has a lower lowest temperature than popular hill resorts in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
For the fifth day in a row on Monday, the minimum temperature in Delhi was lower than those in Shimla (10.3 degrees), Manali (6 degrees), Kangra (8.9 degrees), Dehradun (6.5 degrees), Mussoorie (11.3 degrees), Nainital (6 degrees), Mukteshwar (7.6 degrees), Tehri (9.2 degrees), Chamba (8.7 degrees), Dalhousie (9 degrees), and Dharamshala (9.2 degrees).
However, there was a little increase in the minimum temperatures in the nation’s capital. As opposed to 1.9 degrees on Sunday, the Safdarjung observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 3.8 degrees.
The minimum temperatures in Lodhi Road, Ayanagar, and Ridge were 3.6 degrees, 3.2 degrees, and 3.3 degrees, respectively.
According to IMD officials, visibility levels decreased to 25 metres at the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s main meteorological station, and the Palam Observatory, which is close to the IGI Airport.
The Delhi government has decided to prolong the winter break in schools until January 15 due to the bitter cold.
Why Delhi is more chilly than hill towns:
Due to a significant space between two western disturbances, which allowed frosty winds from the snow-covered mountains to blow in for a longer period of time than usual, meteorologists credit the prolonged period of acute cold.
A significant space between two western disturbances allowed the frigid northwesterly winds from the mountains to affect the plains for a longer-than-usual period, according to Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather.
The direction of the wind changes as a Western disturbance, a meteorological system characterised by warm, moist air from the Middle East, approaches a location.
Two western disturbances typically occur three to four days apart. This time, the gap was seven days, according to Palawat. By December 30, a western disturbance had left the area, and the following one arrived on January 7.
Short-term relief is likely to come after a few days under the influence of back-to-back western disturbances, according to a senior IMD meteorologist.
A railway official reported that 29 trains were delayed by two to five hours on Monday because of the gloomy conditions.
The poor weather caused about 15 planes to be delayed and one to be diverted, according to IGIA officials.
A layer of fog was visible on satellite pictures that ran through Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, passing into Punjab, northwest Rajasthan, and Bihar.