Hill Station Delhi

Max temperature takes a big tumble to make Monday the coldest Dec day

- Prashasti Shandilya

DELHI, on Monday, recorded the coldest December day since record-keeping began 118 years ago, in the year 1901. The minimum temperature on Monday stood at 2.6 degree Celsius and the maximum temperature was recorded at 9.4 degree Celsius, which is a whopping 11.4°C below normal.

Until today, the lowest December day-time temperature recorded in Delhi dated back to December 28, 1997, when the capital experienced a cold day at 11.3°C.

It was also the coldest day in the national capital during December-February the period since 1951, Met official said. Earlier in the day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) posted a series of tweets wherein it hinted at the potential 118-year-old record break, as Delhi's day-time temperatures, continued to "unusually" stick to the cold trend.

EXPERT’S TAKE

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the regional weather forecasting center, said the day temperature was almost half of what is considered normal for this day of the year. Today was the coldest day recorded for the month of December, Srivastava said.

The IMD said the Aya Nagar weather station recorded the day the temperature at 7.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Ridge (8.4), Palam (9), Lodi (9.2).

The national capital has been witnessing its most unforgiving winter season in the past 22 years, as the minimum temperature has remained around 3 degrees Celsius for a few days. It has been experiencing severe cold days since December 14, according to IMD.

FORECAST