The Hindu : Front Page : Capital shivers on winter's coldest morning so far

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Saturday, Jan 06, 2007
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Capital shivers on winter's coldest morning so far

Staff Reporter

Temperature is down to 4.2 degrees but the weatherman plays it cool

SOME RELIEF: After the winter's coldest morning so far, the sun offers some relief to the Capital. Here's the Friday afternoon scene at Raj Ghat. — PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM

NEW DELHI: Early morning walkers in the Capital had a legitimate excuse to stay under their warm quilts for a while longer on Friday with the Capital registering the winter's coldest morning so far.

Inaugurating the weekend on a rather chill note, the temperature dropped a good three degrees below normal to touch a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius during the day. While the temperature may have had Delhiites getting ready to don more layers of woollens, Friday was certainly not cold enough for the weatherman. "An average temperature at best," said the weatherman. "There was nothing unusual about the mercury touching 4 degrees Celsius in January."

"The coldest day in the Capital so far was recorded way back in 1935 when the temperature dropped to minus 0.6 degrees Celsius. Last year the temperature touched 0.2 degrees on January 8. January is always the coldest month of the year in Delhi and 4 degrees is common during this period. This year has seen an average winter so far,'' said Meteorological Department Director S. C. Bhan.

And, according to the weatherman, the cold spell is likely to continue for the next few days. With the minimum temperature on Saturday likely to be around 4 or 5 degrees Celsius, the weekend will be a great time to be sitting all bundled up in front of the heater.

Giving air and rail passengers a break from long delays caused by fog, Friday was a good day to travel as visibility even at its lowest was a good 700 metres. "There will be shallow fog on Saturday too. But the sky will be clear later,'' said a Meteorological Department official.

However, the fog is likely to make an appearance once again this Sunday, according to BBC Weather Forecast. Sunday is expected to be sunny but the visibility might be "poor''.

The coming week is also likely to remain gloomy if the BBC Weather Forecast is to be believed. Monday is expected to be cloudy and visibility will be "very poor". Tuesday is not expected to be any brighter with the fog likely to re-appear. A foggy day, it will see a maximum temperature of 20 degrees C and a minimum of 7 degrees, according to the BBC website.

Shimla shivers

Elsewhere in North India on Friday the cold wave continued unabated and among the coldest places was the Himachal capital Shimla.

Staff Correspondent in Shimla adds: With no relief fromcold wave conditions, the night temperature in the hill capital plunged to below zero degree. It was the coldest night of the season so far with the temperature down to minus one degree Celsius, informed the weather office. Though it was bright and sunny later on Friday, piercing icy winds kept blowing and very little movement of locals and tourists was seen on Shimla's roads.

The tribal area of Kalpa in Kinnaur district of the State also shivered under intense cold wave conditions with the mercury dipping to minus 4.3 degrees.

Almost all places in the higher altitude areas of Himachl's tribal districts of Lahaul Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu and Chamba districts recorded night temperatures between minus 15 and minus 20 degrees.

The Met Office said the minimum temperature in Una dropped below freezing point as people groaned under intense cold wave conditions.

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