Winter chill reduces in Delhi as minimum temperature rises to 5.8 degree celsius

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New Delhi: The spine chilling cold in Delhi loses a little of its sting on Tuesday as the minimum temperature went down to 5.8 degree celsius. The temperature recorded at 5.30 am in Safdarjung and Palam area was at 5.8 degree celsius. There was also improvement in visibility as the fog remained low to moderate at 1200 meter in Safdarjung and 800 meter in Palam. 

The Air Quality Index (AQI) however remained poor with 431 in Anand Vihar and 372 in RK Puram,  according to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) data. 

The national capital on Monday (December 30) observed the coldest day of the year with zero visibility recorded at several places. Nearly 530 flights and several Delhi-bound trains were delayed due to the extreme weather.    

On Tuesday, nearly 100 trains were delayed due to low visibility in the North India region among which 34 were Delhi-bound trains. 

Not only Delhi but the cold day conditions have prevailed over northern and central parts of India leading to cold wave to severe cold wave conditions over Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh and North Madhya Pradesh since December 26, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).  

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted that the Delhi-NCR region is likely to witness light rain showers on New Year. Hailstorm is also expected over the region on January 2. "Light rain is likely over Delhi-NCR during January 1 and January 3 night. Hailstorm is also expected on January 2 over the Delhi-NCR region," said IMD.

In December 2019, the average monthly maximum temperature over Safdarjung till December 3 is 18.6ﾟC against the earlier record of 17.3ﾟC in December 1997. In terms of the total number of cold days, December 2019 has recorded 14 cold days/severe cold days while December 1997 had 17 such days. The dense fog over Delhi is the main cause for Monday's record-breaking lowest maximum temperature in Delhi.