Delhi Weather: The cold wave persists as a thick layer of fog envelops Delhi as minimum temperature owest temperature this winter with the minimum dipping to 3.9 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average on Friday, in line with the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) predictions. The weather department said it is the lowest minimum temperature in the last five years.
The IMD had forecasted dense to very dense fog in various pockets of northwest India during the morning hours for the next five days. This led to delays in 23 trains heading towards the national capital.
Dense fog also blanketed many parts of the city with the Palam Observatory reporting zero visibility at 5:30 am, the IMD said. In various visuals shared by ANI, dense fog was seen covering the national capital.
The severe cold has prompted homeless individuals to seek refuge in night shelter homes at AIIMS due to the intense weather. A 'Yellow' alert for cold day conditions was issued in parts of the city on Wednesday.
The Republic Day rehearsals began early in the morning, and bands were seen marching amid the fog and intense weather.
Due to the fog cover, the visibility levels in the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport area reduced to zero on Friday morning.
The Delhi airport authorities issued an advisory urging passengers to contact their respective airlines for flight information before heading to the airport while no flight delays have occurred so far. Delhi's Safdarjung Airport (VIDD) also reported 200m visibility in dense fog conditions at 7:30 am, it added.
"Low Visibility Procedures are in progress at Delhi Airport. All flight operations are presently normal. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information," authorities said, as per ANI.
On Thursday, the city experienced dense fog, with the lowest visibility recorded at 500 m in Safdarjung at 8:30 AM Palam initially recorded a visibility of 100 m at 5:00 AM, which improved later in the day.
The IMD categorises fog intensity into four types: shallow, moderate, dense, and very dense fog. These classifications are based on visibility ranges, with shallow fog having a visibility range of 999 m to 500 m, moderate fog with a range of 499 m to 200 m, dense fog with a range of 199 m to 50 m, and very dense fog with visibility less than 50 m.
Meanwhile, according to its daily bulletin, the IMD forecasts that dense to very dense fog conditions will persist for several hours in the morning in certain areas of Punjab. Additionally, isolated pockets over Haryana and Chandigarh are also expected to experience these foggy conditions until January 15.