Delhi's minimum temperature rises to 8 deg C even as fog lowers visibility

Delhi's minimum temperature rose to eight degrees Celsius on Saturday even as fog lowered visibility to 300 metres in some parts of the city, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

A fresh Western Disturbance (WD) affecting the western Himalayas provided some relief from the chill. The minimum temperature rose to eight degrees Celsius as a result of easterly winds and a cloud cover over the national capital, an IMD official said.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre, said easterly winds are not as cold as the northwesterly winds coming in from the snow-clad western Himalayas, while clouds trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation, pushing the minimum temperature up.

However, the minimum temperature in Delhi will again drop to four degrees Celsius by Monday, Srivastava said.

"The WD will lead to widespread snowfall in the upper hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Cold, dry winds from the snow-capped mountains will bring the mercury down to four degrees Celsius by Monday," he said.