Cold wave in Delhi: IMD issues 'yellow alert' after temperature slips to 3.3 degrees; all you need to know

New Delhi recorded a decline in its temperature, with the mercury dipping to 3.3 degrees at city’s Jafarpur on Monday, 20 December. At Lodhi Road, the temperature went down to 3.6 degrees, as per reports. National Capital and its nearby regions are experiencing a cold wave with the temperature slipping below four degrees Celsius. Due to the drop in temperature, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert in New Delhi on Sunday (19 December) and Monday (20 December). Furthermore, there are chances of drizzling on 24 and 25 December, Director General of Meteorology at IMD, RK Jenamani. Cold wave in National Capital: For the last two days, due to a strong, dry north-westerly cold wind, cold-wave conditions have been prevailing in New Delhi. The IMD have claimed that the weather will improve from 21 December. As per the recent weather update, during the day the temperatures in Delhi will likely be around 19 degrees Celsius today as the wind speeds will be falling. At night the temperatures will hover around 4 degrees. What does IMD’s colour-code warning mean? After analysing the weather forecast data for over a few days, IMD issues colour-coded warnings in cities and regions regarding adverse weather events. As per the yellow alert, it specifies that a city is facing severely bad weather and it could get worse with the disruption in day-to-day activities. With these warnings, IMD advise people in an area to remain vigilant and stay indoors as much as possible. A “severe” cold wave is registered when departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 degrees Celsius or when the temperature goes to two degrees Celsius. A cold day is registered if the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees below normal. Along with New Delhi, the weather forecasting agency has also issued a yellow alert in Uttarakhand till 21 December. Furthermore, places including Mussoorie, Pithoragarh, Mukteshwar, and New Tehri have recorded sub-zero or near-freezing temperatures in the past few days, which is why the alert has been issued.