Sunday sans Sun, fog delays 80 trains

New Delhi: The national capital remained enveloped in layer of shallow fog until afternoon, causing delay in services of 80 trains and rescheduling of 20 others.

Flight operations though remained normal, officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport said.

According to a MeT department official, the mercury settled at 15.4 degrees Celsius at 2:30 PM, when the visibility was recorded 500 metres, considered as low for the period.

At 8:30 AM, the visibility was recorded at 600 metres. It further dropped to 300 metres at 11:30 AM before improving three hours later. Sun was not visible throughout the day.

“The foggy condition prevailed until afternoon due to the slow wind speed and high humidity levels. At 2:30 PM, the humidity was recorded at 90 percent, which normally is around 50 percent at the said time,” the official said.

The MeT department, earlier in the day, predicted that the maximum temperature will hover around 24 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 11.5 degrees Celsius, three notches above season’s average.

Meanwhile, railway officials said 80 Delhi-bound trains were running behind schedule by several hours, while 20 others required to be rescheduled owing to poor visibility. However, there was no fresh cancellation of services announced.

“The 34 services, which were announced as cancelled between the period December 17 and January 15, only remain cancelled. There is no fresh cancellation,” a railway official said.

Yesterday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 24.5 degrees Celsius and 8 degrees Celsius respectively.