New Delhi: The weather department on Thursday has predicted that cold wave conditions will return to Delhi on January 15 with light rain and a minimum temperature of 9.3 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average, reported news agency PTI. According to the India Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature in Delhi on Thursday was 21.6 degrees Celsius, which was two notches above the average. At 5.30 p.m., the relative humidity was 73%.


Over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, and western Uttar Pradesh, conditions for fog have significantly improved as a result of a western disturbance and the resulting stronger surface winds. 


The IMD, on the other hand, stated that cold wave conditions are very likely to persist in isolated pockets over Delhi and its neighboring states from January 15 again. However, dense to very dense fog continues to cover eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.


According to Skymet Weather Vice President for Meteorology and Climate Change Mahesh Palawat, the prolonged dry spell in Delhi was ended by 0.4 millimeters of rain.


While there has been a significant improvement in North India in terms of fog and chill due to the strong winds blowing in because of a Western Disturbance, MeT experts believe that the weather is likely to get cold and foggy soon. 


A dense cover of fog lowered visibility to just 50 metres in Delhi in the morning, disrupting the movement of vehicles and trains.


"A layer of dense to very dense fog extended from Punjab to Bihar across Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in the morning," an IMD official said.


The Palam observatory near the Indira Gandhi International Airport recorded a visibility level of 50 metres.


Ninety-five trains were delayed due to the foggy weather, a railways spokesperson said.


The Central Pollution Control Board's data show that on Thursday, the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) was 371.


An AQI score of zero to fifty is regarded as "good," 51 to 100 as "satisfactory," 101 to 200 as "moderate," 201 to 300 as "poor," 301 to 400 as "very poor," and 401 to 500 as "severe."


(With PTI Inputs)