Mercury rises to 27.8 degree C in Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 21 (UNI) Mercury in Delhi today rose to 27.8 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal, even as the fog in the capital somewhat dissipated.

After two sunny days, clouds today enveloped the national capital's skyline, leading to a rise in both minimum and maximum temperatures. While the minimum rose to 11.7 degrees, one degree above normal, the maximum rose to 27.8 degrees, three degrees above normal.

However, the fog that occurred in the sky in the last two days dissipated somewhat today with just a slight fog witnessed this morning.

This is the second consecutive day that the mercury in Delhi has witnessed an upwards movement. Yesterday, the minimum temperature had risen to 11.0 degrees, from 10.2 degrees on Tuesday. The maximum also rose from 25 degrees on Tuesday to 26.6 degrees yesterday.

There could, however, be a drop in mercury towards the weekend with the weatherman forecasting scattered to fairly widespread snowfall over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand and rain or thundershowers over plains in the Northwest, including Delhi, during the next 24 hours under the influence of a fresh western disturbance.

Consequently, there is expected to be a fall in minimum temperature by two to three degrees in the next few days.

''The current meteorological analysis suggests a fall of two to three degrees in the minimum temperature over the plains of Northwest India and Rajasthan during the next 24 hours,''the weather office said.

The met office has forecast a partly cloudy sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with likelihood of slight fog or mist in the morning hours.

UNI