The maximum temperature in the Capital remained eight degrees below normal at 12.7 degrees Celsius on Thursday, a climb from Wednesday’s maximum of 9.8 degrees Celsius, the lowest maximum in 44 years. The minimum of 4.4 degrees Celsius was also 3 degrees below normal.
Some parts of the Capital, however, went lower than the record maximum with the Ridge recording 9.4 degrees Celsius, Palam 9.7 degrees and Ayanagar 9 degrees.
However, it was a sunny day as the heavy shroud of fog that had enveloped the city for many days lifted to be replaced by several hours of sunshine. “I sat on my terrace for several hours and watched my clothes dry. They had been put to dry many days ago and were still damp,” said a housewife in Patel Nagar.
However, humidity levels remained high at a maximum of 100 per cent and a minimum of 63 per cent.
A mainly clear sky with fog only in the morning has been forecast for Friday. “The maximum temperature might inch up to 14 degrees Celsius with the minimum at 5 degrees Celsius. The remainder of the week could also be the same with temperatures oscillating between a maximum of 14 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 5 degrees Celsius,” said the India Metrological Department duty officer.
Meanwhile, flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport here remained largely normal on Thursday though there was some shallow fog in the morning. “Operations were largely normal. However, three flights were cancelled and seven were delayed due to fog, bad weather at destination or operational reasons,” said airport sources.
Dense fog descended on the airport around 1.30 a.m., leading to drop in visibility to 75 metres at the third runway and hovered around 150 metres till 3 a.m. During this period general visibility dropped to below 25 metres. The visibility at the main runway remained between 150 and 225 metres through the night and in the morning it increased to 1,200 metres, they said, adding so there was virtually no affect on flight movement.