Delhi shivers at 2.6 Degrees Celsius

The national capital woke up to a cold morning on Saturday, December 29, as the mercury dipped to 2.6 Degrees Celsius, four notches below the season's average, marking the coldest day of this winter.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 19 Degrees Celsius, and the humidity at 8.30 am was 85 per cent, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

The visibility in the morning was 1,500 metres in most parts of the city, he said.

However, the visibility in Palam area was only 800 meters.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall air quality in the national capital was found in 'very poor' category.

"While there was shallow to moderate fog in most parts of the city, a few places saw dense fog causing visibility issues. The sky will remain clear with cold wave conditions at many places," the official said.

There would be haze and smoke later in the day.

Friday's maximum temperature settled at 18.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 5 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average.

Not only Delhi, many cities across the nation recorded season’s coldest night, with Haryana’s Hisar being low at 0.3 degree.

Whereas, Punjab’s Adampur recorded the season’s coldest night so far at minus 1.7 degrees Celsius as cold wave conditions further intensified in the state and neighbouring Haryana on Saturday.

Dense fog at several places in the two states affected normal life. Meteorological Department officials said foggy conditions prevailed early this morning at several places, including Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Ludhiana, Patiala and Amritsar.

In Hisar, Haryana the temperature was at a low of 0.3 degree C, while Narnaul was at 0.7 degree.

There was no relief from the intense cold in the valley and the Ladakh region as the temperature dropped several notches below the freezing point.

An official of the Met department said the minimum temperature was minus 7.2 degree Celsius in Srinagar.

In Pahalgam, the temperature was minus 8.3 degree Celsius while it was minus 7 degree Celsius in Gulmarg.

At minus 21.1 degree Celsius, Drass recorded the night’s lowest temperature, and the town was coldest in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

with agency inputs.