Capital Delhi shivers as the maximum temperature nosedives

Delhiites pulled out more woollens today with the day temperature nosediving to 15°C following light rains across the city, and no respite is expected from the cold and damp conditions tomorrow.

Though the fog in the morning did not trigger travel chaos like yesterday, the light rains and cold winds blowing across the city caused the maximum temperature to drop from the previous day's 21°C.

The rain gauges measured 0.9mm till 5:30pm.

The mercury was recorded at a low of 7.4°C this morning, up from yesterday's 6.1°C.

The maximum was 7° below normal for this time of the year while the minimum was normal.

Light showers that began at around 9am took the residents of the capital by surprise as they stepped out of their homes. The meteorological department had yesterday predicted that Delhi could receive rains today.

The rains appeared to have blunted the impact of the fog as visibility improved to over 300 metres. Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi international airport were normal with no diversions or cancellations.

Last night, dense fog enveloped the main runaway of the airport while there was shallow fog on the second runway.

This led to implementation of low-visibility procedures at the new runway around 10pm and flights operated using the instrument-landing system. About 300 flights have been affected by fog in the past three days.

Asked about the rains, a senior Met official said it was usual for this time of the year. Last year, the city received 2.8mm of rain in December with 2.2mm on December 15.

In 2003, Delhi got 30.2mm of rains in December. A record 134.4mm was received in December 1884.

The weather bureau predicted fog in the morning and rains in the day tomorrow while adding that the temperature could oscillate between 9° and 18°C.

According to statistics provided by the bureau, the average minimum temperature in Delhi for the month of December is 8.2°C and the maximum is 23°C.

The lowest ever minimum temperature recorded in this month was 1.1°C on December 26, 1945, while the highest maximum was 29.3°C on December 3, 1987.