No Fog, No Cold Wave, No Rain Likely In Delhi: Winter Chill Continues
Key Takeaways
- Delhi has been experiencing a persistent spell of below-normal minimum temperatures since November.
- Lack of active western disturbances has prevented both snowfall in the hills and rain in the plains, keeping cold wave conditions at bay.
- Winter fog is unusually absent this season, with pollutants causing only shallow fog conditions.
- With no significant western disturbance expected, Delhi will stay dry and chilly with stable minimum temperatures over the next week.
There is a prolonged spell of below-normal minimum temperatures in Delhi. The average minimum temperature in November was also significantly below normal. The month recorded a mean minimum of 11.4°C against the normal of 13°C. The first five days of December have seen minimum temperatures in the low single digits, remaining below normal by 3°–4°C. The lowest temperature of 5.6°C this season was recorded on two consecutive days—yesterday and today—about 4°C below normal. Mercury levels continue to shy away from proper cold wave conditions, albeit by small margins.
Extreme cold conditions are usually triggered as an offshoot of active western disturbances dumping snow in the hills and rain–thundershowers in the plains. There has been a paucity of such systems so far, and therefore the dry cold is persisting. Feeble and weak weather disturbances, mainly upper-air systems, are moving across the northernmost latitudes of the country. However, either there is no associated weather activity or it remains confined to the higher reaches of the mountains. There is a spillover effect over the plains in terms of temperature fluctuations, but it is inadequate to trigger typical cold wave conditions over and around the national capital.
Very strangely, the national capital has remained devoid of distinct winter fog this season so far. The atmospheric obscurity is on account of pollutants and toxic particles. Still, the horizontal visibility has dropped only to shallow fog at best. The seasonal feature has been precariously missing, with an inordinate delay and little hope of recovery.
In the absence of active western disturbances, rains will continue to elude the region till past mid-December. Accordingly, moisture levels will remain squeezed and insufficient to set off the murky conditions that are the hallmark of piercing cold. Wind speed in the lower levels will be higher than average over the next few days. This condition will sustain the chill factor. Minimum temperatures are neither going to fall sharply nor spike during the next one week.
