Brought about by the intense cold wave in north India, Delhi experienced the season's worst fog conditions on Monday morning. The average temperature in Delhi remained between 14°C and 16°C throughout the day, going down to nearly 4°C in certain pockets.
To make matters even chillier, a light drizzle has been forecast over Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and Thursday.
Senior Scientist at the India Meteorological Department RK Jenamani said: "Delhi witnessed the worst fog conditions of the season today. Due to dense fog, temp in Delhi will remain between 14°C and 16°C today. Light drizzle is likely to occur over Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and UP on the night of Jan 11 and morning of 12th January."
According to the IMD, the minimum temperature was recorded at 4°C and the maximum was 18°C. While the skies remained partly cloudy, the visibility was reduced to a range between 199 m to 50 m. Some pockets of Delhi reported visibility as low as 25 m The IMD has forecast the conditions to get worse with the cold wave prevailing tomorrow and the poor visibility holding till the end of the week.
The IMD's forecast stated the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to continue in the same range till the end of the week, with a little improvement in visibility. Delhiites could hope to get a brief respite from the intense cold as the minimum and maximum temperatures have been forecast to rise 7°C and 20°C respectively for some time.
The dense fog hit road, railway, and air traffic as well. While vehicles moved slowly on Delhi roads and the surrounding highways, several trains had to be cancelled. Over 100 flights were delayed due to the fog and over 250 trains were cancelled.
Meanwhile, as Delhi experience drizzles on Wednesday and Thursday, heavy snowfall is expected in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Jenamani was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.