Delhi’s minimum temperature was recorded at seven degrees Celsius on Monday and is likely to drop further as cold winds from the snow-clad western Himalayas continued to sweep the plains, the India Meteorological Department said

The mercury is likely to drop to five to six degrees Celsius by January 14, an IMD official said.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum temperature of seven degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature on Sunday was 16.2 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal.

Delhi has registered above-normal minimum temperatures since January 3 as a cloud cover persisted over the city under the influence of successive western disturbances.

Delhi’s minimum temperature had settled at 7.8 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 10.8 degrees Celsius on Saturday, 9.6 degrees Celsius on Friday and 14.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the highest in January in four years, according to the IMD.

The cloud cover over the national capital has prevented a steep decline in the minimum temperature so far, the official said.

Clouds trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation and radiate it back downward, warming the ground.

However, the minimum temperature has started declining with the commencement of northwesterly winds from snow-capped mountains towards the plains starting Saturday, the official said.