New Delhi: The national Capital, which is getting a taste of winter’s sting for the last two weeks, recorded its coldest day ever in the month of December on Monday. (In 119 years for which weather records are available).
The day temperature -- at just 9.4 degrees Celsius -- was almost half of what is considered normal for this day of the year. The minimum temperature had settled at 2.6 degrees Celsius.
In the unprecedented fog, the visibility, in turn, stood at zero metres at 8.30 am. By afternoon, 530 flights had been delayed, 20 were diverted and five had been cancelled. More than 30 trains were also delayed.
Fog and the cold weather not only impacted flights and trains services, the air pollution in Delhi-NCR, too, entered the ‘severe’ category.
There was a major accident in greater Noida when a car skid off the road and fell into a canal, killed 6 persons, including two minors.The severe cold and fog in north India is expected to affect the rabi crops, said agricultural scientists.
When the crops don't get enough sunlight, the photosynthesis process slows down which impacts the growth of crops. In the higher regions, with temperatures dropping to minus 6.5 degrees Celsius, Srinagar recorded the coldest night of the season.
Drass in the Union Territory of Ladakh was freezing with the mercury dipping to minus 28.8 degrees Celsius. In Srinagar, the fringe of the Dal Lake was frozen and the boatmen had to cut through the ice to navigate their boats.
In Punjab, Amritsar city recorded 1.2 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal; Ludhiana, Patiala and Gurdaspur recorded similar below normal minimums at 4.6, 4.5 and 4.2 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Rohtak was the coldest place with 1.2 degree Celsius.
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