Coldest January in 7 years,says Met

Noticeably,Delhi has experienced only three days of normal day temperatures since the year began. For 16 days,the mercury remained below normal by a difference of 1 to 9 degrees Celsius.

The Met department said the extreme cold conditions experienced in the last three weeks were because of fog that recurred almost every day. After a day or two of clear weather,fog formed by western disturbances and other moisture-carrying winds would lessen the visibility and block sunlight,ushering in cold days.

“For most of January in 2003,the mercury remained below normal due to fog. This year too,there was a dense fog cover during mornings and evenings with some respite in the afternoon,” B P Yadav,director,Indian Meteorological department,said.

Delhi had,in fact,shivered to the core in 2003. On New Year’s Eve seven years ago,the maximum temperature was just 11 degrees Celsius,as against this year’s 20.6 degrees Celsius.

Though the mercury has not fallen to 11 degrees Celsius during the day this year,some of the coldest days were recorded on January 9 and 11 when the maximum temperature fell to around 12 degrees Celsius,nine notches below normal.

Nights were cold as well this year but remained near the normal average. On many occasions,it even exceeded the standard temperature due to fog. The phenomenon pulls down the day temperatures but increases the night temperature by storing heat,officials of the Met department said.

After the third week,the temperature is expected to rise steadily. This week,in fact,started on a warm note of 18.9 degrees Celsius — on Tuesday the maximum temperature was 19.8 degrees Celsius. Wednesday is expected to be warmer at around 21 degrees Celsius.