'Cold day' conditions back in city, 160 flights hit by fog

Icy cool winds coursed through Delhi on Sunday as another cold day slashed temperatures dramatically and enveloped the city in a thick fog that pinched visibility and threw flights and train services into disarray once more.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

The minimum temperature fell nearly four degrees, from 8.5°C on Saturday to 4.8°C, three degrees below normal. The maximum temperature, meanwhile, plunged to 15.8°C, almost a couple of degrees cooler than 17.7°C a day ago, and five degrees below normal.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a “cold day” is classified as one when the maximum is at least 4.5°C below normal and the minimum is below 10°C. Both these conditions were met on Sunday, which was Delhi’s fifth cold day of the year.

This month, Delhi has recorded a cold day on January 4 (with a maximum temperature of 12.5°C), January 5 (14.6°C), January 9 (13.4°C) and January 19 (14.2°C).

“We saw dense to very dense fog till 10.30am on Sunday. And even as the sun shone during the day, strong winds with speeds of 10-12km/hr blew consistently through the day,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.