‘Almost freezing’: Why Dilli ki sardi feels icy-cold; dense fog likely to be back

Feeling a bit too cold in Delhi-NCR? It's most of us, not just you. Delhi is likely to experience severe chill over the next few days, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a yellow alert until Thursday, forecasting dense to very dense fog in a weather that seems bone chilling.

IMD said parts of Delhi recorded "cold day" conditions on Tuesday, with the chill expected to intensify across northern India until January 15, according to meteorological experts cited in an earlier HT report.

“Today is perhaps the coldest I’ve felt in Delhi NCR in many, many years. It’s almost freezing!” said an X user in a post.

Navdeep Dahiya, an amateur weatherman, warned residents to brace up for “great north Indian Coldblast”.

"Brace yourselves.... The upcoming 10 days will challenge "The great north Indian ColdBlast" of 24th Dec 2019 - 1st Jan 2020. Thats the tweet!," Dahiya wrote on X.

“The fog is present as a mix of surface & upper level fog thats why it is appearing as overcast skies in some areas. It is unlikely to thin out by afternoon hours and icy Northwesterly winds will continue to keep temperatures low and due to these conditions a large extent of #Punjab, #Haryana and nearby areas including pockets of Delhi will experience Day time temperatures in 10-16°C and a few rural places in single digits,” the post read.

Navdeep Dahiya said Delhi can expect the maximum to fall and be in the range of 12-15°C at Safdarjung during the next 9-10 days or so, and it may be between 10-14°C at Palam, as HT reported earlier.

The minimum may not fall like 2019, but it should still fall to a range between 3-4°C," Dahiya said, adding that early morning fog will persist, with this rising to the mid-and-upper levels during the day.

On Tuesday, the Safdarjung weather station, representative of Delhi's weather, logged a maximum temperature of 15.7°C, three degrees below normal. The lowest maximum in the city was 13°C, recorded at Palam; it was six degrees below normal.

Dahiya said a cocktail of fog, alongside icy-cold northwesterly winds, made it feel extremely cold during the day. "Despite fog, which keeps minimum high, these icy-cold winds will not only keep maximum low, but also gradually bring the minimum lower," he said.

"Maximum temperatures have been observed in the range of 13-16°C with cold day conditions over Delhi at Palam and Lodhi Road). It is likely to continue on Wednesday," the report quoted IMD scientist Krishna Mishra.

According to the IMD, a "cold day" is when the minimum temperature is below 10°C and the departure of maximum temperature from normal is 4.5°C or more. It is a "severe cold day" when the maximum is 6.5°C or more lower than normal.

The lowest maximum this season was 14.2°C, recorded on December 31, a six-year low. On December 30, 2019, the maximum temperature dropped to 9.4°C, making it the coldest December day in 119 years.

The minimum meanwhile stood at 7.6°C on Tuesday -- a degree above normal. It was 6.6°C on Monday, which was normal. Cold northwesterly winds had so far been leading to a sustained drop in the minimum temperature, with the wind speed dipping comparatively on Tuesday.