Continuing the trend of warmer-than-usual months, November this year emerged as the warmest in the last five years, with the highest day and night temperatures.
This is the most delayed dip below 10 degrees Celsius since 2019, when this happened on December 1, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.
The average minimum temperature for November has been 14.9 degrees Celsius, nearly 2 degrees Celsius above the long-period average (LPA) of 13 degrees Celsius.
Similarly, the average maximum temperature stood at 29.5 degrees Celsius, 1.1 notch above the LPA, marking this as the warmest November since 2019.
The sharp decline in minimum temperature began on November 25, when it stood at 14 degrees Celsius and dropped steadily due to strengthened cold northwesterly winds and clear nighttime skies.
The temperature fell to 11.9 degrees Celsius on November 26, 10.4 degrees Celsius on November 27 and 10.1 degrees Celsius on November 28, before dipping below the 10-degree Celsius mark on Friday for the first time this season.
Speaking over the weather conditions, IMD officials said while the current cold spell is typical for late November, the season has been characterised by overall warmer-than-usual conditions due to a lack of significant rain and snowfall.
A temporary rise in nighttime temperatures by 1-2 degrees Celsius is expected over the weekend due to a western disturbance influencing northwest India, with another dip likely early next week as snowfall occurs in the northern hills.
Meanwhile, October too had been warmer than usual, as the city recorded its warmest October this year since 1951, with both days and nights recording nearly 2 degrees Celsius higher than normal on average.
The average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures in October were 35.1 degrees Celsius and 21.2 degrees Celsius respectively, the highest since they were 36.2 degrees Celsius and 22.3 degrees Celsius respectively in 1951, according to the data.
Additionally, on Friday mercury dipped below the 10-degree Celsius mark for the first time this winter season, with Safdarjung, which is representative of Delhi’s weather, recording a minimum temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal.
The weather department has forecast shallow fog for Saturday, with maximum and minimum temperatures expected to hover around 26 degrees Celsius and 10 degrees Celsius respectively.