Clear skies, northwesterly winds brings minimum temp to 16.5°C, season’s lowest

Clear skies and predominant northwesterly winds saw Delhi’s minimum temperature dip to 16.5°C at the Safdarjung weather station, which is considered representative of weather in the Capital. While it was still a degree above the normal for this time of the year, it is the lowest temperature recorded so far this winter.
The minimum was 17.1°C a day earlier, but it is unlikely to fall further, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the wind direction was transitioning to warmer southeasterly winds. IMD forecast the minimum temperature to rise marginally this week, oscillating between 17°C and 18°C till the weekend.
“We are seeing clear skies prevail in the region and this is leading to warmer days. Nighttime temperature also dips when this happens, which has occurred in the last few days as we have had cold northwesterly winds blowing. There has also been a spell of isolated snowfall in the higher reaches, which has helped,” an IMD official said, adding that a change in wind direction to easterly-southeasterly will again change the scenario.
Although the Safdarjung weather station is representative of Delhi’s weather, other stations were even cooler. The minimum dipped to 13.3°C at north Delhi’s Ridge station, followed by a low of 14.5°C at the Ayanagar station in southwest Delhi.
Despite the dip, the minimum temperature is still above the normal, with a warmer-than-usual start to November, on the same lines as October. IMD on Friday said Delhi recorded its warmest October since 1951. The average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures this October were 35.1 and 21.2°C, which were 36.2°C and 22.3°C respectively in 1951.
IMD data shows Delhi’s minimum temperature could have dipped to around 14°C by the last week of October, as the lowest minimum in October last year was 14.3°C, 14°C in October 2022, 14°C in October 2021 and 12.5°C in October 2020. By November-end, the minimum usually dips below 10°C, data shows.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet meteorology, said that the lack of western disturbances through October has led to a warmer-than-usual October. “This has meant no snowfall in the mountains and rain in the plains. The wind direction in the last 24 hours was predominantly northwesterly and we also had clear skies for the last few days. This has helped minimum temperature drop,” he said.
Delhi, meanwhile, recorded a maximum temperature of 33.2°C, three degrees above the normal. It was 33.9°C a day earlier. Forecasts show the maximum is likely to oscillate between 32°C and 33°C till the weekend.