Cold wave across north India, this Rajasthan city records min temp of 0.2 degrees Celsius

Cold and dry northerly, northwesterly winds from Himalayas have brought a new wave of chill to north India, with the minimum temperature recording a dip in most cities.

New Delhi: A cold wave gripped North India  on Wednesday (January 13, 2021) as frosty winds from the snow-clad western Himalayas continued to sweep the plains.

The minimum temperature over north India showed a negative tendency and departure, the lowest recorded minimum temperatue at Ganganagar in west Rajasthan of 0.2°C.

Cold and dry northerly/northwesterly winds from the western Himalayas have been barrelling through the plains, bringing down the minimum temperature in north India, Kuldeep Srivastava, the regional forecasting centre head of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

As per the data shared by IMD, the minimum temperature in Delhi (Lodhi Road) was of 3°C, 1.4°C in Haryana (Narnaul), 3.5°C in Punjab (Amritsar), 0.2°C in Rajasthan (Ganganagar), 3.8°C in UP (Bareilly), 3.8°C in MP (Umaria) & 1.6°C in Bihar (Patna).

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum of 3.2 degrees Celsius, four notches below the normal.

While "dense" fog blanketed parts of Delhi, lowering visibility to 50 metres and affecting traffic movement. The minimum temperature in the city dipped to 3.2 degrees Celsius, Srivastava said.

Delhi had been registering above-normal minimum temperatures till Monday, as a cloud cover persisted over the city under the influence of successive Western Disturbances (WDs). Similar conditions will prevail in the city over the next two days, IMD predicted.