The national capital on Sunday experienced an intensification of severe cold conditions, with the minimum temperature plummeting to 3.5 degrees Celsius—the lowest recorded this winter. Weather officials observed a thick layer of fog in various parts of the city.
This marked a slight decrease from Saturday’s temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius and Friday’s 3.9 degrees Celsius, both of which were the lowest for the season on their respective days. Delhi’s minimum temperature on Sunday was four notches below the season’s average, as reported by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD has forecasted the persistence of very dense fog and cold wave conditions for an additional two days in the national capital, extending until January 20. The Palam Observatory near the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi documented dense fog with visibility dropping to zero meters by 5 am, marking the longest duration of dense fog this season, according to the IMD.
Due to the fog, the Indian Railways reported delays of one to six hours for 22 Delhi-bound trains on Sunday, affecting travel not only in the national capital but also in several other states.
The weather office categorizes visibility levels as follows: “very dense” fog when visibility ranges from 0 to 50 meters, “dense” between 51 and 200 meters, “moderate” between 201 and 500 meters, and “shallow” between 501 and 1,000 meters.
As of 9 am, Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 458, falling under the ‘severe’ category, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The AQI scale categorizes air quality from “good” (0-50) to “severe” (401-500).
(With PTI inputs)
