The New Year seems to have brought some respite from the spine-chilling cold in the National Capital thanks to the light rains and heavily overcast sky that the city has witnessed since Friday morning. However, city dwellers planning a weekend getaway would have to plan cautiously as the Met Department has predicted moderate to dense fog from Sunday onwards.
While the minimum temperature settled seven notches above the season’s average at 13.8 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the gap with the maximum temperature also subsequently reduced to three degrees, resulting in a considerably warmer day for Delhiites. The maximum temperature in Delhi settled at four notches below normal at 16.8 degrees Celsius. Foggy conditions prevailed in several parts of the city.
According to a Northern Railway official, 41 trains coming to the Capital were running late, four were rescheduled and Purba Express was cancelled. However, flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi were smooth. The city, on Saturday, received rainfall in the morning and traces of it later in the day. Safdarjung observatory and the centre at lodhi Road recorded 7 mm of rainfall between 8.30 pm and 8.30 pm after which traces of rainfall were witnessed in these areas.
Foggy conditions were witnessed in several parts of the city as visibility was reduced to less than 100 metres at 5.30 am, which improved to 500 m at 8.30 am. Visibility was 1,800 m at noon and stayed so till 2.30 pm but reduced to 800 m by 5.30 pm, the official said.
Similar weather conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana, where too the gap between minimum and maximum temperatures reduced in several parts following rains. The Union Territory of Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 12 degrees Celsius, seven notches above normal, while the maximum settled at 15.7 degrees, five points below normal. In Haryana, Ambala received rainfall of 11.5 mm while it recorded a low at 11.8 degrees Celsius, up by six notches. The maximum stood at 15.1 degrees.
The MeT Department has predicted that partly cloudy skies will become clear by Sunday morning. “Moderate to dense fog could occur in the morning. Very light rain or thundershowers could occur tomorrow night. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 17 and 10 degrees Celsius,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department.
Friday’s maximum temperature was 16 degrees Celsius, five notches below the season’s average and the minimum temperatures settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average.