Delhiites on Saturday woke up to a cold day with the Capital registering a 10-degree fall in the maximum temperature compared to the previous day.
The maximum temperature recorded was 16.5 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal, resulting in a sudden change from the bright sunny days to chilly, cloudy and foggy day. The minimum temperature recorded for the day was 14.2 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal.
Rail services were also affected due to fog.
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The weatherman cited snowfall in several parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as the reason for chilly winds in the plains. The sudden change in the weather made people regret their decision of wearing light clothes instead of over-coats and thick mufflers circling their neck.
“I did not think that the cold would come back. I was expecting a pleasant weather on Saturday. So, I left home in just a light sweater hoping that it would get sunny like the past two to three days. But it was a bad decision. I will again have to go with layering myself with woollens from tomorrow,” said Sanya, an executive.
Sunday will see mainly clear skies with shallow fog in the morning, the weatherman has forecast. The maximum temperature would be 20 degrees Celsius and the minimum around eight degrees Celsius.
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The Indian Railways also faced the brunt of change in weather as nine trains ran two to 12 hours late. Also, 13 trains were rescheduled due to fog. The worst affected trains were those heading to the Northeast from the Capital.
No disruptions were reported in the operation of the flights. “It was cold but not hazy. We have capabilities to land in this kind of weather,” said an official at the Delhi International Airport.
The pollution levels in the city remained relatively high than the prescribed standards, according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee website.