Weather / Delhi records coldest day of the season, minimum temperature at 9.2ºC

New Delhi: Delhi recorded its coldest day of the season on Wednesday with the minimum temperature dropping to to 9.2 degrees Celsius, India Meteorological Department (IMD) recordings showed.

On Wednesday, the minimum temperature recorded at the Safdarjung weather station, which is considered the official marker for the city, was 9.2 degrees Celsius—two degrees below what is considered normal for this time of the year. The maximum temperature was 28.8 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal, IMD said.

At the Aya Nagar observatory, the minimum temperature fell to 8.8 degrees Celsius, three degrees below the season’s normal. Aya Nagar was among the 10 localities in northwest India that recorded the lowest minimum temperatures on Wednesday, according to IMD’s regional meteorological centre.

Forecasters said that the drop in Wednesday’s temperature was because of the clear skies that Delhi has been witnessing over the last two days. Met officials said that clear skies facilitate a faster cooling of the earth surface.

“The forecast for Thursday and Friday are that the temperatures might rise by 1-2 degrees,” a senior IMD official said.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather Services said, “Apart from clear skies, the wind has also been variable. This means that we have not got steady winds from one direction. On Wednesday, we received westerly winds, then winds became calm and blew from the east for some time. A little fluctuation in temperatures under these conditions is normal.”