Harsh Winter Ahead: Temperature to Drop Below 10°C in Delhi This Week, Says IMD

Weather Update: With cold northwesterly winds now blowing towards the Capital, Delhi's minimum temperature has dropped by more than 4 degrees in the last four days and is expected to drop even further, reaching the 10-degree mark by Saturday, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts.

Delhi Weather

The minimum temperature in Delhi on Sunday was 12.6 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal for this time of year and the joint-lowest of the winter season thus far. It was also 12.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday, 14.6 degrees on Friday, and 16.8 degrees on Thursday. According to RK Jenamani, a scientist at IMD, the sudden drop in temperatures can be attributed to the western disturbance (WD), which left the region on November 11, allowing colder winds to resume blowing.

"Prior to that, the wind was southeasterly, and the minimum temperature was around 17 degrees. When a WD interacts with a region, we generally see a rise in minimum temperature because southeasterly winds are warmer. We have seen snowfall in places since the WD, and once northwesterly winds blow from that direction, it is bound to impact temperatures accordingly," he said, adding that while the minimum temperature may rise slightly over the next two days, another dip is expected closer to the weekend.

"On Monday, the wind direction may briefly change to the east, resulting in a slight increase, but the overall wind direction will remain northwesterly for the next seven days." As a result, the minimum will gradually fall further," he predicted.

According to Indian weather forecasts, Delhi's minimum temperature will remain around 13 degrees until Wednesday, before dropping closer to 12 degrees on Thursday, to around 11 degrees by Friday, and likely to touch the 10-degree mark by Saturday. The average normal minimum temperature for the Capital between November 12 and 16 is 13.6 degrees Celsius, according to the long-period average (LPA).

It is 12.4 degrees between November 17 and 21, 11.3 degrees between November 22 and 26, and 9.9 degrees between November 27 and 30. However, historical data shows that the temperature can fall even lower in November. While the lowest minimum temperature in November last year was 9.2 degrees Celsius on November 24, it dropped to as low as 6.3 degrees in November 2020.

According to data, the lowest minimum temperature in November in 2017 was 7.6 degrees (November 24). Meanwhile, the maximum temperature in Delhi was 28.2 degrees, which is about normal for this time of year. Forecasts indicate that this will also fall slightly in the coming days. While temperatures may fall to around 27 degrees Celsius by Wednesday, they may fall to 26 degrees by Friday.