The weather department said that severe cold wave conditions prevailed over the areas of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, and west Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.
Many districts in the state of Rajasthan recorded temperatures ranging between 1 to 3 degrees Celsius while in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and UP, the temperature range between 3-5 degrees Celsius. At Safdarjung Observatory in Delhi, the mercury was around 4.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
Over the plains of northern India, Fatehpur in the Sikar district of Rajasthan recorded the minimum temperature at -4.7 degrees Celsius while the people of the Faridkot district of Punjab as battling with temperatures as low as -1 degrees Celsius.
The national capital saw an intense spell of the cold wave from 5 January to 9 January, which was the second longest in a decade. Around 2.6 degrees Celsius was recorded at Jafarpur, 3.8 degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road, 3 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar, and 3.2 degrees Celsius at Ridge.
The temperature is expected to further dip and cold wave conditions will continue till 17 January to 18 January after which owing to the western disturbance, the temperatures will likely increase by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.
Wind directions in the region change as western disturbances (warm moist winds from the Middle East region) approaches. The phenomena note the halt of chilly northwesterly winds from the mountains and the temperatures gradually increase.
A severe cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal limits is by more than 6.4 notches. A cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 notches below normal.
(With inputs from PTI)
