Cold wave grips Delhi; Rain, hailstorm expected next week

Coldwave conditions prevailed in the region on Tuesday with the minimum temperature settling in the range of 1 to 3 degrees Celsius in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and north Rajasthan.

New Delhi, Jan 18: The Indian Metrological Department (IMD) predicted that New Delhi is going to witness rainfall and hailstorm with winds gusting up to 50 kilometers per hour during the next week.

The weather department said an active Western Disturbance is very likely to affect northwest India from 21-25 January.

Safdarjung in Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 2.6°C, Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 6.0°C while Ayanagar recorded a minimum temperature of 3.2°C, said IMD.

Churu in Rajasthan recorded a minimum temperature of -1.2°C while Sikar recorded a minimum temperature of -1.5°C, said IMD.

Narnaul in Haryana recorded a minimum temperature of 0.5°C while Hisar recorded a minimum temperature of 2.0°C, said IMD.

"Under its influence, rainfall/snowfall is likely to commence over the western Himalayan region in the early hours of January 21 and continue till January 25 with peak activity on January 23-24," it said in a statement.

The Met office said a light to moderate hailstorm is likely at isolated places over Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan on January 23 and 24.

Winds gusting up to 50 kilometres per hour are very likely to prevail over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh occasionally on January 23-24, it said.

Delhi has not recorded any rainfall this winter season so far. The Met department attributed it to the lack of strong western disturbances in November and December.

Meanwhile, Coldwave conditions prevailed in the region on Tuesday with the minimum temperature settling in the range of 1 to 3 degrees Celsius in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and north Rajasthan.

The Sadarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 2.4 degrees Celsius against 1.4 degrees on Monday.

Several trains were delayed by an hour to eight hours due to the foggy weather conditions in the national capital.