NEW DELHI: This year, the average minimum temperature in November reached 10.2 degree Celsius. According to data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), this temperature was earlier recorded 71 years ago in November 1949. The clear skies and cold winds blowing from northern regions of the country are responsible for the drop in mercury. The IMD data shows that the previous time average minimum or night temperature descended below 10.3 degree Celsius in Delhi in November was in 1938, during which it was 9.8 Celsius.
However, scientists from IMD said that the weather phenomenon La Nina is currently active. Hence, it has been influencing the temperatures in and around Delhi-NCR. In accordance with the World Meteorological Organisation, a United Nations agency, La Nina refers to the large- scale cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, in addition to changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation, such as winds, pressure and rainfall.
Dr Kuldeep Srivastava, Head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, Delhi, said that La Nina impacts temperatures across the globe. Whenever La Nina is active, there is a possibility that winter temperatures would remain lower that the usual.
On Monday, November 30, the minimum temperature continued to drop to 6.9 degree Celsius at IMD’s Safdarjung observatory.