It was yet another chilly day for Delhiites on Tuesday as the minimum temperature plummeted below 10°C. Compared to Monday, winds were relatively lighter even as there was intermittent sunshine throughout the day.
“The day mainly witnessed a clear sky with moderate fog in the morning. The winds were less than 19 kilometre per hour,” said an official from the Indian Meteorological Department.
The minimum temperature was recorded one notch above the season’s average at 8.5°C. The maximum temperature, on the other hand, settled two notches below average at 19.7°C.
However, visibility reduced to as low as 200 metres while the maximum was recorded at 800 metres. Fog disrupted operations at IGI Airport where over a dozen flights were delayed on Tuesday morning. Three flights had to be diverted as the pilots were not trained to land aircraft in visibility of less than 200 metres, airport sources said. “Not a single flight was cancelled due to weather conditions in Delhi,” said Kapil Sabarwal, spokesperson, Indira Gandhi International Airport. However, there was no suspension of flight operations due to fog, an airport official added.
Train operations however, were disrupted. “Due to the fog, there has been a cancellation of five trains going from Delhi and delay of more than 50 trains headed for Delhi,” said Northern Railway spokesperson AS Negi. Twenty five trains were rescheduled, he added.
The MeT office forecasts a similar Wednesday. “Wednesday’s maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 20°C and 7°C Celsius,” it said.