Capital freezes at season's lowest
The Capital witnessed the season’s lowest temperature of 1.9 degree Celsius on Sunday. Icy winds continued to blow across the city which spelt no respite for the residents.
On Sunday, the minimum temperature was five degrees below normal and down from Saturday’s 2.9 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature stood at 12 degrees.
According to a Met department official, this is the lowest temperature recorded for January in a decade.
On January 8, 2006, the minimum temperature had plummeted to 0.2 degree Celsius. On December 2, the lowest temperature was recorded in 44 years and the maximum temperature had fallen to 9.7 degree Celsius. On December 4, the minimum temperature dipped to 2.7 degrees.
The cold remains unabated owing to regular snow fall in the neighbouring areas of the city. “The chilly weather will continue in the coming days,” said the official.
For the next few days, the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle at 14 and 3 degree Celsius respectively.
Weather also played a spoilsport for train and air passengers. Twenty-three trains were cancelled and over 40 trains are running late. “There is a heavy backlog leading to many delays and rescheduling of trains,” said a Northern Railway spokesperson.
Four flights were cancelled and 63 delayed. “There was chaos at the airport. Because of the extremely cold weather, passengers whose flights were delayed were asking for accommodation,” said an airport official.
He added 23 flights operated in low visibility procedure (LVP) and one flight was delayed as a result of thick fog on Saturday morning.
Over a hundred people have died so far in the bitter cold across India. Last year, around 92 people died during the winter in northern part of the country.
The homeless were seen lighting bonfires during the night. Several night shelters are packed during this time of the season here.
