Delhi shivers after coldest November in 5 years; bigger temperature drop expected this week

DELHI is set to experience a further drop in mercury in the coming days. This follows the coldest November day in three years, which occurred on the last day of the month.

The city recorded its coldest November in five years. The night temperature has dropped significantly over the past few days, causing the monthly average minimum to settle at 11.5 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), as cited by newswire ANI.

On Sunday, 30 November, the night temperature slipped to 8 degrees Celsius, the lowest in three years. The weather department also noted the day's maximum temperature was the season's lowest at 24.3 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees below normal. This made 25 degrees Celsius the second-lowest. Last year, the lowest maximum for November was recorded on the 18th at 23.5 degrees Celsius.

Weather forecast today

Delhi residents woke up to shallow fog on 1 December as IMD predicted “mainly clear sky”. Predicting the average maximum temperature to be below normal by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius, the Meteorological Centre said, “The predominant surface wind …. will be less than 05 kmph from the northwest direction in the afternoon. The wind speed will be less than 05 kmph from the northwest direction during the evening and night.” The departure from the average minimum temperature of this period is around 5 degrees Celsius.

On Monday, the minimum temperature is expected to settle around 5.7 degrees Celsius. However, over the next four days, the mercury is expected to drop further, to around 5 degrees Celsius, according to IMD data.

Considering the maximum temperature today, it is expected to hover between 23 and 25 degrees Celsius and is expected to drop by 1 degree over the next five days, to 22 degrees Celsius.

Weather forecast for next week

From 5 December, partly cloudy sky conditions will replace the clear sky forecast. Moreover, shallow to moderate fog is likely during morning hours. Notably, Delhi entered December following a completely dry November, with no rainy days recorded in the previous month this year.

Delhi AQI today

The residents of the national capital woke up to ‘poor’ air quality with Air Quality Index (AQI) two notches below ‘very poor’ range at 299 on 1 December, at 7:05 AM, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Sameer app. This follows a marked improvement in air quality witnessed on Sunday, with an AQI of 279, after a period of 24 days of ‘very poor’ air.