On Tuesday, Delhi experienced a minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius, which is two notches below the season’s average making it extremely cold. The maximum temperature reached 17.5 degrees Celsius, registering a notch below the season’s average, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The prevailing weather conditions led to a delay in twenty Delhi-bound trains on January 8, reported the Indian Railways. An IMD official indicated that cold day to severe cold day conditions were likely to persist in some parts of Delhi on Tuesday and abate thereafter.
The IMD forecast for the day suggested a generally cloudy sky with a possibility of light rain or drizzle in Delhi. The maximum and minimum temperatures were expected to settle around 15 degrees Celsius and 6 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Additionally, the IMD predicted dense to very dense fog conditions in the night and morning hours in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Bihar. Dense fog conditions were likely over the next three days in Punjab and Haryana. Cold day to severe cold day conditions were expected in Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana on Tuesday, with Rajasthan also experiencing cold day conditions. Further, a cold wave was anticipated in Rajasthan on January 12 and 13.
In other regions, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand were forecasted to witness dense fog conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday. States like Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura were expected to experience dense fog conditions from Wednesday onward for the next two days.
IMD also predicted light to moderate rainfall in certain areas of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Lakshadweep over the next four days. Heavy rainfall was expected in coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal on the same day.
For northern regions, IMD forecasted light isolated rainfall/snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on Tuesday. Isolated rainfall was likely over the plains of Northwest India and Central India.
Further, the weather department anticipated light to moderate rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning in Maharashtra from Tuesday until Wednesday and over Gujarat on Tuesday. Hailstorms were also likely over Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on the same day.
On Monday, over four trains experienced delays of about six hours, including Katihar-Amritsar Express, Khajurao-Kurukshetra Express, Jammu Tawi-Ajmer Express, and Ajmer-Katra Pooja Express, according to Northern Railways. Three trains, including Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express, Ambedkarnagar-Katra Express, and Chennai-New Delhi GT, were expected to arrive late by around two hours, while Manikpur-Nizamuddin Express was anticipated to arrive almost four hours late. Over twelve trains were running late by around 1-1.30 hours, including Kanpur-New Delhi Shramshakti, Saharsa-New Delhi Vaishali Express, Bangalore-Nizamuddin, Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Prayagraj-New Delhi Express, Rajendranagar-New Delhi Express, Muzaffarpur-Anand Vihar Express, Amritsar-Mumbai Express, Hyderabad-New Delhi Express, and Chennai-New Delhi GT, according to railway officials.