Delhi sees 3rd straight 'cold day', maximum temperature 6 notches below normal

The night temperature in Delhi dipped to 5.8 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, as cold northwesterly winds swept the northern plains.

Delhi experienced a cold day on Wednesday but it was not as chilly as the day before, according to the India Meteorological Department.

The night temperature dipped to 5.8 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, as cold northwesterly winds swept the northern plains. The city's maximum temperature peaked at 16.4 degrees Celsius, six notches below the normal.

Palam, Narela and Jafarpur recorded a severe cold day -- their maximum temperature was at least 6.5 degrees below the normal.

It was also the third consecutive "cold day" in the national capital.

Delhi had seen the coldest January day in nine years on Tuesday, with the maximum temperature plunging 10 notches below the normal and settling at 12.1 degrees Celsius.

Before this, January 3, 2013, had experienced a maximum temperature of 9.8 degrees Celsius, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

The cold was so intense that all weather stations in Delhi recorded their maximum temperatures 10 degrees to 11 degrees Celsius below normal.

According to IMD, a "cold day" is when the minimum temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius below the normal. A "severe cold day" is when the maximum temperature is at least 6.5 notches below the normal.

According to IMD data, Delhi has recorded seven cold days in January so far, the highest in the month in at least a decade.

Senior IMD scientist R K Jenamani said Delhi has recorded a maximum temperature of less than 17 degrees Celsius on 12 days this month, the highest since 2003 which had seen 18 such days.

The maximum temperatures have been lower than normal since the second week of January. Minimum temperatures have been close to or above normal.

This is largely due to fog and low clouds preventing long exposure to the sun.

There have been seven western disturbances in Delhi this January as against a normal of three to four in the month.

Rains due to the western disturbances increased moisture in the air which led to foggy conditions amid low temperatures on most of the days.