New Delhi: Minimum temperatures are set to plummet to 8-10 degrees Celsius in the next two days, even as Delhiites on Monday woke up to a chilly morning while a dense layer of fog enveloped most parts of the city after the Christmas chill.
Christmas Day was the coldest and one of the smoggiest days of the season with mercury oscillating between 11.4 degree Celsius and 15.4 degree Celsius.
On Monday, the minimum and maximum temperature recorded was 9.8 degree Celsius and 22.8 degree Celsius — both two notches above the season’s average. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that minimum temperature in the capital will remain the same on Tuesday while it is expected to dip by 2 degrees on Wednesday.
The minimum temperature on Wednesday is predicted to be 7 degrees Celsius. Dense to very dense fog is expected to envelop the city on Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, fog continued to disrupt train movements in Delhi. At least 37 trains arriving in the city on Monday were delayed and six trains were rescheduled. Flight operations, however, were not much affected, as per the officials of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Thick fog blanketed several areas of Delhi-NCR, affecting road traffic. The visibility was recorded at 600 meters at 5.30 am at Safdarjung observatory and it dropped to 400 meters at 8.30 am, said a Met department official. At Palam observatory, it was zero visibility at 5.30 am and it improved to 100 meters at 8.30 am.
Low visibility was also recorded at Anand Vihar, New Ashok Nagar, Mayur Vihar Phase-III and Chandni Chowk, according to Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency.
