Delhi Sees Season's Longest Zero Visibility Spell, Over 400 Flights Hit As Dense Fog Blankets City

Delhi fog: IMD said that the maximum temperature of the city settled at 20 degrees Celsius, 0.7 notch above average and the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.8 degrees Celsius.

People board a bus during a cold and foggy winter morning, near Akshardham temple in New Delhi on January 4.

Source : PTI

The national capital on Saturday witnessed zero visibility for nine hours straight as dense fog continued to blanket Delhi, resulting in the longest spell of zero visibility this winter season. This led to the delay of 81 trains while 19 flights got diverted and over 400 got delayed.

According to the India Meteorological Department, "Zero visibility prevailed for nine hours at Palam between 6 PM and 3 AM (UTC)," marking the longest spell of the season. Besides this, the Delhi's primary weather station, Safdarjung, also recorded zero visibility for eight hours.

"With the the maximum temperature in the city settled at 20 degrees Celsius, 0.7 notch above average and the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.8 degrees Celsius, 0.9 notch above the normal," IMD said. The relative humidity during the day ranged between 96 and 100 per cent, it added.

VIDEO | Dense fog engulfs parts of Delhi. Visuals from ITO.

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/0YsyfC5HCO

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19 Flights Diverted, Over 400 Delayed Due To Dense Fog In Delhi 

Delhi Airport on Saturday saw many cancellations due to dense fog for second consecutive day. At least 19 flights were diverted and over 400 were delayed due to low visibility conditions. 

According to a report by PTI, the 19 flights were diverted between 12:15 AM and 1:30 AM. "Of them, 13 were domestic, four international and two non-scheduled flights. More than 45 flights were cancelled due to bad weather conditions at Delhi as well as at the destination airports," an official said. 

At 7 AM, Indira Gandhi International Airport's general visibility was zero due to very dense fog. The Runway Visual Range (RVR) at its runways was in the range of 100-250 metres, with CAT III conditions. CAT III facility allows aircraft to operate in low-visibility conditions.

The Met office said that the very dense fog in zero visibility along with the CAT III conditions had been prevailing at the airport since 11:30 PM on Friday, PTI reported.

IndiGo had temporarily put arrivals and departures on hold at the airport early in the morning.  "#6ETravelAdvisory: Departures and arrivals at Delhi Airport are currently on hold due to reduced visibility," IndiGo said in a post on X at 1:05 AM on Saturday. 

"While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," the Delhi International Airport Limited, which operates the airport, said in a post on X at 6:56 AM.

In an update on X at 1:16 AM, Air India said that the flight operations in Delhi and parts of north India were hit due to dense fog.

At 10:58 AM, IndiGo issued an update saying that dense fog continued to affect visibility in Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Srinagar, Guwahati, and Patna, even during daytime. 

Meanwhile, the Northern Railway said that 59 trains were running late by up to six hours and 22 others were by around eight hours.

Partly Cloud Sky Forecast On Sunday

The weather department has forecast a partly cloudy sky for Sunday in Delhi. The predominant surface wind is likely to blow at a speed of less than 4 kmph from the southeast during the morning hours.

Dense fog is expected in a few places in the morning along with smog and moderate fog in most areas. The wind speed is forecast to gradually increase from 4 kmph to 8-10 kmph in the afternoon. By evening and night it will decrease to less than 6 kmph.

"Smog or shallow to moderate fog is likely during the evening and night," it said.

While the maximum temperature is expected to settle around 18 degree Celsius, the minimum temperature will likely be 10 degrees.

In another development, the air quality in Delhi remained in the 'very poor' category. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi's 24-hour average AQI stood at 378.