Chilly weather continues, mercury dips to 7.6 degrees C

New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) Delhiites today continued to freeze under the chilly weather for the third consecutive day as mercury dipped to the lowest of the season at 7.6 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees below normal.

With the maximum too being recorded at 24.1 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal, the march of winter in Delhi continued.

Interestingly, today is the third day in a row that mercury has fallen below 9 degrees Celsius, indicating that the winter has well and truly arrived in the capital.

More chilly days could be in store as the weatherman forecast a minimum temperature of 8 degrees Celsius tomorrow although the sky would remain largely clear.

The weatherman has attributed the sudden chill in the weather to fresh snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, induced by a fresh western disturbance.

Weathermen said light rain and snow was likely at a few places over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal in the next 48 hours. Isolated rain and thundershowers are likely over Punjab and north Haryana, all of which are likely to result in the chilly conditions in plains of Northwest India persisting.

A drop in mercury was long overdue as the post-Diwali period had witnessed unusually warm weather with the night temperatures hovering at around 15 degrees C, nearly 5 degrees above normal.

Though the coming weeks could witness a slight rise in the night temperature, the weatherman said it would hover around 10 degrees Celsius.

''A feeble western disturbance is moving across western Himalayan region. Under its influence, both day and night temperatures are likely to increase by 2-3 degrees over Northwest and central India during the next 48 hours,''the weathermen said adding that, however, they would stay at around normal level.

Also, with another western disturbance likely to affect Northwest India from December 3 onwards, the coming weeks could see a return of the chill.

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