North India is set to see a fresh cold spell from the weekend.
As temperatures in North India blip up briefly this week, January 2023 could still go down in the books as the coldest for the region, a weather expert has predicted, with temperatures in the plains dipping as far as -4 degrees Celsius next week.
Severe chills are on the horizon between January 14 and 19 and are likely to be at their peak from January 16 to 18, tweeted Navdeep Dahiya, the founder of Live Weather of India, an online weather platform.
And while light rainfall in the national capital might bring some respite from icy temperatures for a few days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also said cold wave conditions are very likely in isolated pockets over Delhi and its neighbouring states from Saturday.
While he hedged his bets, saying there could be some changes to the outcome with three days to go and fog playing a crucial role, the weatherman warned of maximum temperatures in the single digits and "frosty mornings" or "coldblast" days.
"Also, to note this is a historic run so far in 11 days of Jan with next few days look really cold, #January 2023 can be historically coldest - maybe for 21st century so far?" Mr Dahiya tweeted.
After bone-chilling nights for the past several weeks, the IMD had predicted only temporary relief for residents of Northwest India from the excruciating cold this week.
An active western disturbance was expected to trigger a 2-4 degrees Celsius rise in minimum temperatures over the north-western plains till Friday. But it warned of a fresh burst of icy chill in the national capital after that.
Days after recording its third-worst cold spell in 23 years, the minimum temperature in Delhi settled at 9.3 degrees Celsius on Thursday, two notches above the season's average. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 19 degrees Celsius, according to the IMD.
"A similar situation was experienced in 2006 when the lowest temperature was recorded at 1.9 degrees Celsius. In 2013, there was a similar cold spell," RK Jenamani, a weather scientist at IMD, told news agency ANI.
Mr Jenamani said Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Western UP and North Rajasthan could also experience drizzle and light rainfall over the next few days.
"In Himalayan states, including Jammu and Kashmir, and especially in Kashmir, there might be heavy rainfall or snowfall on January 12. There could also be rains or snowfall in Himachal and Uttarakhand between January 11 and 14," he added.