With a maximum temperature of 9.4 degrees Celsius, the Capital recorded its coldest day temperature on Monday, according to data available with the Meteorological Department since 1901. The minimum temperature was 2.6 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal.
The daytime temperature was 11.4 degrees colder than the average temperature for the season, breaking the previous record for the coldest day temperature of 9.8 degrees Celsius recorded on January 2, 2013.
The previous record for the coldest day in December was 11.3 degrees Celsius on December 28, 1997. The Met Department said that the average monthly maximum temperature till December 30 was 18.6 degrees Celsius against the earlier record of 17.3 degrees Celsius in December 1997. In terms of total number of cold days, December 2019 has recorded 14 cold/severe cold days so far while December 1997 had 17 such days.
Delhiites woke up to a thick blanket of fog on Monday morning. About 440 flights were delayed and over 55 were cancelled during the first half of the day at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Weather official said the dense fog over Delhi was the main cause for the record-breaking lowest maximum temperature. “This season’s worst dense fog has been observed all over Delhi today [Monday] with visibility of 0-200 metres for a very prolonged period from 2.30 a.m. to 12 p.m., according to data from IGI airport,” the Met Department said.
The weatherman has predicted severe cold spell/dense fog to continue in Delhi on December 31. Due to an approaching western disturbance, one or two spells of light rain/drizzle accompanied with thunderstorm are likely between the night of January 1 and January 3.
