New Delhi may face the coldest Sunday of November this week, according to the IMD

After witnessing the coldest of the season so far on Friday, the national capital may experience the chilliest day in November in 14 years on Sunday, officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) told IANS.

Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD and Head, Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC), informed that cold winds coming after snowfalls in the hills could bring the mercury down to 7-degree Celsius on Sunday.

"The minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to further reduce to 7-degree C and 24-degree C on Sunday, respectively," he said.

On November 29, 2006, the minimum temperature in the national capital had dipped to 7.3-degree C.

"As the wind direction continues to be north-westerly, cold winds are coming in from Jammu and Himachal Pradesh, which have received snowfall. Besides, clear skies in the day is causing the heat to dissipate quickly and make the nights cooler than usual," Srivastava explained.

However, he also forecast that the temperature is expected to rise in the next three-four days before dropping again after November 27. "Western disturbance and change in wind direction will cause the rise in temperature," Srivastava added.

The minimum temperature in the national capital had dropped to 7.5 degrees Celsius on Friday morning, five notches below normal for this time of the year.

On Thursday, the city had recorded a minimum temperature of 9.4-degree C. In 2017, the minimum temperature had dipped to 7.6-degree C in the last week of November. IMD data showed that the average normal minimum temperature is 12.9-degree C for this time of the year. Delhi even saw its coldest October in 58 years this time with an average minimum temperature of 17.2-degree C.

The lowest temperature recorded last November was 11.4-degree C, while in 2018 it was 10.5-degree C. The IMD is likely to declare a cold wave on Saturday if the temperature remains five degrees below normal.

Meanwhile, the city's air quality index fell to the "poor" category on Saturday with a reading of 252. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the forecasting body under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said that 1,264 fire counts were observed in the neighbouring states and the share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM 2.5 is expected to be 13 per cent on Saturday.

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