Decembrrr: Gurgaon freezing at 0.4ºC, Delhi at 2.6ºC

NEW DELHI: NCR’s date with extreme weather this December continues. After two weeks of bone-chilling daytime conditions, night temperatures fell precipitously in the region on Sunday, with Gurgaon almost touching freezing point as the minimum dropped to 0.4 degrees Celsius and Delhi recording its second lowest December temperature in at least 15 years at 2.6 degrees. NCR residents can expect little relief till Tuesday, when a slight increase in temperatures and a decrease in fog intensity is predicted.Gurgaon’s minimum was among the coldest temperatures recorded in the NCR in recent times. The Millennium City’s lowest ever temperature is -0.4, recorded on December 5, 1966. Sunday night was unusually cold for Delhi as well. Weather records accessed by TOI since 1999 showed it to be the second lowest December temperature for the period, after 2.4 degrees Celsius recorded on December 30 last year.READ ALSO: Delhi records lowest temperature in 5 years, dense fog hits flights The Met department declared cold wave in and around Delhi — a double whammy for the region that had earlier reeled under ‘cold day’ conditions. A cold wave is declared when the minimum falls at least five degrees below normal, while ‘cold day’ occurs when the maximum is similarly below normal. The day also recorded the season’s most severe spell of fog, with the IGI Airport closed for around five hours from 5.45am to 10.45am due to zero visibility. A total of 93 flights were affected, including six flights cancelled, 73 delayed and 17 diverted.R K Jenamani, director in-charge at IGI Met said that the temperature on all runways was around 2-3 degrees on Sunday morning. “Fog set in uniformly and almost simultaneously over the three runways. During this period, the atmosphere was absolutely stable. All of NCR experienced low temperatures and dense fog till about 11am,” he said.Palam recorded a maximum and minimum temperature of 17.8 degrees Celsius and 3.5 degrees Celsius respectively.The Met office said that the cold was probably a result of local cooling. “The sky had been relatively clear the previous afternoon because of which heat escaped and led to a sharp drop in night temperature, a phenomenon known as radiational cooling,” an official said.Severe fog conditions are predicted from Sunday night to Monday morning. A decrease in intensity is expected from Tuesday morning or night under the impact of a strong induced circulation over northwest India.A Met official said a low pressure area has formed over Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coast because of which warmer easterly winds are expected in the region on the morning of December 31, which will then interact with the fog and may reduce it further. A fresh western disturbance is also expected to affect northwest India from December 30.“Fog is expected at many places over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan till Tuesday. Ground frost may occur in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan till Tuesday. Cold wave conditions may also occur over parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. There will be no significant change in minimum temperatures till Monday and then a slight increase is possible. The cold wave will abate from Tuesday,” said a Met official.The department has predicted light to moderate rain and snow at one or two places over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on January 3. Isolated to scattered rainfall and thundershowers will occur over central India and adjoining parts of east and northwest India, including Delhi around this time.