Icy winds blowing across the national capital made it a bone-chilling day for Delhiites as the day and night temperatures plummeted to the season's lowest. The minimum dropped sharply to 3.7 degree Celsius from yesterday's 8.2 degrees while the maximum was down to 12 degree from 14.7 degrees the previous day,the MeT Office said. Tomorrow could be the same as today on weather front with the MeT prediction showing that the minimum would be around four degree Celsius while the maximum is not likely to go beyond 15 degrees with fog in the morning. "Today's maximum and minimum are the lowest for this season so far. It was the coldest day of the season," a senior MeT official said. The day began with a layer of fog on the city skylines but it did not create MUCH trouble for the airport or rail operators though there were some "routine" delays. Fog started to envelope the airport around 3 am and become dense by 6.30 am due to which about 40 flights were delayed. However,there were no diversions or cancellations. The visibility dropped to below 50 metres around 6.30 am,while the runway visual range dropped to 150 metres,since the RVR was within the permissible range,flights operated using instrument landing system. "The fog was there from the night and but it was not that dense. There was also no sun to bring some warmth for the people reeling under cold," the MeT official said. The cold winds blowing across the city for the past several days added to the chill in the city where two cold-related deaths have been reported since December 26. "What a day it was! Too cold. I could not walk through the streets despite wearing two layers of wollen and a leather jacket. There was no sun and this chilly wind shivered me like anything," said Sangamitra Sharma,a software professional working in Connaught Place,said. Last year,the month of January recorded the lowest minimum of 5.6 degrees Celsius in the first week of the year. According to Met statistics,the record for the highest maximum for the month of January was 32.5 degree Celsius recorded on the 28th of 2004. The record minimum is -0.6 degree Celsius recorded on 16th of the month in 1935. In the last decade,only last year the minimum did not drop below five degree Celsius. In 2006,the minimum dropped to 0.2 degrees on January eight while two years later,the lowest minimum was 1.9 degrees on 2nd of the month. The mean minimum for the month of January is 7.3 degree Celsius while the mean maximum is 21.1 degrees.
