GURUGRAM: Residents shivered throughout the day as the city recorded its second 'cold day' this season on Tuesday, even as the minimum temperature rose by nearly three degrees. There was moderate fog in the morning hours and the haze continued to cover the skies during the day.
The maximum temperature dropped almost by a degree to 15.4 degrees Celsius, five notches below the season's normal, against 16.3 degrees Celsius on Monday. Before this, the city recorded a 'cold day' on December 25 with the maximum temperature at 15 degrees, while a 'severe cold day' was recorded on December 26 when the daytime temperature was 11.7 degrees Celsius, the lowest so far this season.
The minimum temperature, meanwhile, rose to 8.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, two notches above the season's normal, against 5.8 degrees the previous day.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), there will be no significant change in the minimum temperature over the next three days. It is expected to rise by 2-3 degrees thereafter due to a fresh western disturbance approaching the western Himalayan region on December 7.
"Dense fog has been observed over most places in Haryana and the layer of fog continues to persist in the lower atmosphere due to low winds, which is not allowing the sun to shine. As a result, cold to severe cold day conditions have been observed in many parts of Haryana, including Gurugram, Chandigarh, Ambala, Hisar and Rohtak. We are not expecting any significant change in the next three days," said Manmohan Singh, director, IMD (Chandigarh).
IMD declares a 'cold day' when the minimum temperature of a station is less than 10 degrees and the maximum temperature's departure from normal is between 4.5 degrees and 6.4 degrees. A 'severe cold day' is recorded when the maximum temperature's departure from normal is more than 6.5 degrees. A 'cold wave' is declared when the minimum temperature of the station is less than 4 degrees Celsius.
According to the IMD's forecast, moderate to dense fog will persist in the morning hours with mainly clear skies during the day on Wednesday. The minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to hover around 7 and 17 degrees, respectively.
The city's air quality index (AQI) deteriorated to 'very poor' on Tuesday. The overall AQI was 355, compared to 266 (poor) the previous day
Meanwhile, Delhi city saw dense fog on Monday night and Tuesday morning, bringing the visibility below 50m in several areas, while the clouded sky brought the daytime temperature down, making it a cold day in isolated areas.
Due to light winds during the night and high humidity, the city reeled under the cover of fog, with the visibility under 1,000m for 14 hours, from 10pm on Monday to 12pm on Tuesday. The visibility dropped to 50 metres by 10.30pm on Monday, and eventually reached 400 metres by 8.30am on Tuesday. By 11.30am, it improved to 800m and crossed 1,000m by 12pm.
According to IMD, a very large area of the northern plains was under a thick cover of fog. This triggered delay of over 100 flights and diversion of five, including two charter, flights. The Delhi-bound flights were diverted to Jaipur. Over 21 trains were also delayed by at least two hours.
On Tuesday, the minimum temperature was 8.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above average, against 7.6 degrees a day earlier. Several areas of Delhi recorded cold-day conditions. The maximum temperature at base station Safdarjung was 16.1 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, against Monday's 17.3 degrees.
Delhi's AQI remained 'very poor' at 385 on Tuesday against 357 a day earlier. According to the pollution forecasting agencies, it is likely to remain 'very poor' for the next three days.
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