NEW DELHI: Delhi received light rain for the second day in a row on Monday, even as the minimum temperature rose to 11.4 degrees Celsius due to cloud cover over the city, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum temperature of 11.4 degrees Celsius, four levels above normal and the highest in the last 22 days.
Due to heavy rains, the capital witnessed flooding in many areas that also disrupted the movement of traffic.
Traffic congestion was reported at Pankha Road, Peeragarhi, Minto Road, Gole Market, Rohtak Road, Najafgarh Road, Naraina and Ashram Chowk.
The maximum temperature was set at 22.6 degrees Celsius, three levels above normal.
Clouds trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation and radiate it downward, heating the ground.
The observatory recorded 1.7 mm of rain until 5:30 pm. Weather stations at Ayanagar, Jafarpur, Palam, Lodhi Road, and Ridge recorded rainfall of 4.4mm, 2mm, 1.4mm, 1.6mm and 1mm respectively.
The IMD said moderate rains and thunderstorms are also likely Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, fog reduced visibility to 50 meters at Safdarjung and 150 meters at Palam around 7:30 am.
According to IMD, ‘very dense’ fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 meters, ‘dense’ fog is when it is between 51 and 200 meters, ‘moderate’ fog is when visibility is between 201 and 500 meters and ‘shallow’ fog Fog is when it is between 501 and 1000 meters.
On Sunday, heavy rains, thunder and lightning hit the city under the influence of a strong western unrest that affected northwestern India. The Safdarjung Observatory recorded 39.9 mm of rain between 8:30 am on Saturday and 2:30 pm on Sunday.
The western disturbance is causing widespread snowfall in the hills. Once it is removed, the mercury will drop back to four to five degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
On Friday, mercury plummeted to 1.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest level in 15 years, and “very dense” fog reduced visibility to “zero” meters.
On January 8, 2006, the city had registered a minimum temperature of 0.2 degrees Celsius. The all-time record is minus 0.6 degrees Celsius recorded in January 1935.
The lowest minimum temperature recorded in January last year was 2.4 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
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