Delhi shivers at 6.4°C, season’s lowest

BEATING THE COLD: Delhi on Tuesday recorded the lowest temperature for the season, at 6.4 degrees C. A thin layer of fog spread across the capital on Tuesday, and the weather office forecasts mist on Wednesday morning. File photo: V.V.Krishnan

Icy winds swept Delhi on Tuesday morning as the mercury dropped to the season’s lowest of 6.4°C due to snowfall in upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh and the Kashmir valley.

Tuesday’s minimum is two degrees below normal for this time of the year. On Monday, the minimum was 7.4°C while Sunday it was 8.4°C.

“The snowfall in higher in upper reaches of Himachal and Kashmir has brought down the temperature,” a Meteorological department official said. The city was swept by icy winds early in the morning.

A thin layer of fog also engulfed the city skyline in the morning reducing the visibility to 1,000 metres. However, flight movement was not affected due to the fog.

The temperature in the city had been oscillating between seven and 25°C in the last week.

Mist predicted

The weatherman has predicted mist in the morning with maximum and minimum likely to hover around 21°C and 6°C respectively on Wednesday.

In 2008, the lowest minimum of the month was 6.4°C recorded on December 26, while in 2007, it was 3.9 °C on December 29. The record for 2006 was 7.3°C on November 29.

The all-time record for minimum temperature was recorded on December 26 of 1945 when the mercury dipped to 1.1°C.