Chilly weather in North, fog adds to woes

New Delhi, January 26

Chilly weather conditions prevailed across north India on Monday coupled with dense fog and scattered rain in some parts.

Intermittent drizzle, however, failed to dampen the spirits of thousands of spectators who had gathered on both sides of the Rajpath in the Capital to witness the Republic Day Parade, where US President Barack Obama was the Chief Guest, and at other similar event venues across the country.

In Delhi, the minimum temperature settled at 11.6 degrees Celsius, which was three notches above normal for this part of the season, while the maximum was 16.4 degrees, five notches below normal. Humidity was recorded at 97 per cent at 8:30 am.

Dense fog was witnessed in the morning which in addition to the overcast conditions and rain caused low visibility hitting rail operations. Railway officials said that while 33 North-bound trains were running late, two were cancelled.

Flight operations were already shut at Indira Gandhi International Airport during the time of the Parade.

In Punjab and Haryana too, biting cold conditions continued to sweep with fog adding to the winter woes. The minimum temperature at Hisar was recorded at 2.4 degrees Celsius while in Ludhiana it stood at 4 degrees. Amritsar's low settled at 5.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum in Chandigarh was 8.6 degrees.

Icy winds and dense fog also affected road and rail services in Rajasthan, throwing normal life out of gear at several places even as people in Churu and Bikaner shivered under a minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius.

Participants at the state-level Republic Day Parade in capital city Jaipur experienced the coldest morning of the season with minimum temperature recorded at 10.2 degrees.

According to a MeT report, the mercury dipped by one to three degrees Celsius at many places of the state with the inflow of northerly chilly winds. Mount Abu, the sole hill region, recorded a minimum of 5 degrees Celsius.

Over 10 trains were running late by one to five hours due to fog, a North Western Railway spokesman said.

Kota received a maximum rainfall of 2.4 mm till this morning as intermittent and scattered rains continued in Hadauti region (Kota division). Elsewhere, the minimum temperature varied between 8 and 11.8 degrees Celsius.