Dense fog returns, cold to intensify
NEW DELHI: After a day’s respite, dense fog returned to Delhi on Tuesday, dropping visibility to 50 metres in some parts of the city, and adversely impacting train and flight operations.
Operations at the Delhi airport were affected between 5am to 7.30am and over 100 flights were delayed due to bad weather.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials, the visibility recorded at 5.30am in Safdarjung was 500 metres and 50 metres in Palam. At 8.30am, visibility in Safdarjung dropped to 400 m, but improved in Palam to 200m.
According to the Northern Railway, till the afternoon, at least 62 trains were delayed, two trains cancelled and 26 were rescheduled due to the fog.
Some flights were also delayed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Air India officials have confirmed that all their flights, except four, were held up because of the weather conditions. Early morning Air India planes flying to Pune, Ahmedabad, Male via Thiruvananthapuram, and Kochi, were unaffected.
Once the fog cleared, the city experienced a sunny, but cold day with the maximum temperature at 23.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average, said the met department.
It forecast dense fog followed by an equally cold day on Wednesday.
The day started with heavy fog at isolated places along with cold winds bringing the minimum temperature to 9.3 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season’s average, but the situation improved as the sun came out.
A weather official said that the temperature would go down over the next few days.
“There would be moderate/ dense fog on Wednesday morning, while the sky is likely to be clear the day ahead,” an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The maximum and minimum temperatures on Wednesday are likely to hover around 23 and 8 degrees Celsius.
Monday’s maximum temperature settled around 22.8 degrees Celsius, one notch above the season’s average; while the minimum was recorded at 11 degrees Celsius — four notches above the season’s average.