Parts of Rajasthan continued to grapple with the cold wave on Tuesday, with the minimum temperature in Sikar plunging to 1 degree Celsius, four degrees below normal, the India Meteorological Department reported.
Ganganagar town recorded a minimum temperature of 2.1 degrees Celsius while Jaipur and Bikaner shivered at 2.7 degrees Celsius, five degrees below the usual temperature for this time of the year.
Jodhpur recorded a minimum temperature of 7.7 degrees Celsius, Kota 5.7 degrees Celsius, and Ajmer 3.1 degrees Celsius early on Tuesday, the weather department said.
In Delhi, the minimum temperature on Tuesday stood at 4.1 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal but an improvement from Monday. The maximum temperature on Monday had hit a 119-year low of 9.4 degrees Celsius, 12 degrees below normal.
At least 34 trains in Delhi were running late due to dense fog, PTI reported. These included the Chennai-Nizamuddin Duronto Express, delayed by over eight hours, the Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express by six hours, and Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express which was delayed by three hours. However, the Indian Meteorological Department said that the cold wave will subside from January 4, as the temperatures will rise slightly, NDTV reported.
Kuldeep Shrivastava, head of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said that the winds have changed direction from north-westerly (which brought cold winds from the Himalayas to the northern plains) to easterly (which will bring moist air from the Bay of Bengal). This, in turn, will result in a rise in temperatures in parts of North India, the Hindustan Times reported.
“When the wind direction is changing, winds are at a low level creating conditions conducive for fog formation which is why we saw very dense fog yesterday,” Shrivastava said. “Today after the change in the wind direction, there was shallow fog all over north India. We are expecting the cold spell to abate from tomorrow.”
In Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur recorded a minimum temperature at the freezing point of zero degrees Celsius on Tuesday, eight degrees below normal. Bahraich hit a low temperature of 0.2 degrees Celsius, a 106-year record low.
The weather department said that along with a rise in minimum temperature, northwest, east and adjoining Central India might receive rainfall and hail from January 1 to January 3, 2020.
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