Mercury dips to 10°C, IMD may declare a cold wave

November expected to be colder than usual this year

India Gate shrouded in morning fog on Tuesday.

Nights in the Capital continued to get cooler with the minimum temperature settling at 10 degrees Celsius, which was the lowest for the season so far.

The temperature was five degrees below normal and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that it may consider declaring a cold wave if the temperature continues to stay the same for another day.

For the plains, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and is 4.5 degrees Celsius less than normal for two consecutive days.

No cloud cover, snowfall

The fall in the minimum temperature has been attributed to the absence of cloud cover and snowfall in the upper Himalayas that has blown cold winds towards the region.

November is expected to be colder than usual after the mean minimum temperature in October this year was 17.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest since 1962, when it was 16.9 degrees Celsius.

The normal mean minimum temperature for October in the Capital is around 19.1 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature on Tuesday, however, settled one degree above normal at 31.6 degrees Celsius and is likely to stay above 30 degrees Celsius till November 7.