Dense fog, winter chill grips Delhi, minimum temperature drops to 4.3 degrees
According to the IMD, monitoring stations at Safdarjung and Ayanagar recorded the lowest minimum temperatures. These were followed by Palam and Lodhi Road observatories, where the minimum temperature was 4.7 degrees Celsius.
New Delhi: Residents of Delhi woke up to dense fog, low visibility and extreme cold on Saturday morning. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for cold waves and dense fog. For the sixth straight day on January 16, cold wave conditions continued to prevail in the region and minimum temperature was recorded at 4.3 degrees Celsius.
IMD predicts slight rise in temperature in coming days
According to the IMD, monitoring stations at Safdarjung and Ayanagar recorded the lowest minimum temperatures. These were followed by Palam and Lodhi Road observatories, where the minimum temperature was 4.7 degrees Celsius.
The weather department in its latest bulletin said that there could be a slight rise in temperatures across Delhi-NCR in the coming days. They said that minimum temperatures may rise by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius in the next 5 days. They further said that the sky will be partly cloudy and there would be moderate fog at some places, while dense fog would prevail in several other places.
The maximum temperatures in Delhi are likely to remain between 21 to 23 degrees Celsius, while the minimum will hover between 6 to 8 degrees Celsius.
Flights delayed at Delhi airport
The foggy weather in Delhi led the Delhi Airport to issue an advisory. The advisory informed passengers that low visibility procedures are in progress at the Delhi Airport, but all flights operations were normal.
They however asked the passengers to contact the airlines for updated information regarding their flights, before leaving for the airport.
AQI remains in poor category in Delhi-NCR
Meanwhile, the air quality continued to remain poor in the national capital and the surrounding regions of Noida and Ghaziabad. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had in fact, on Friday declared Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action PLan (GRAP) across the entire NCR. GRAP-3 had been imposed as a preventive measure, to stop further deterioration in air quality.
There is thus a restriction on playing of BS-IV diesel and BS-III petrol vehicles, in the entire region. These measures would help curb rising pollution levels, which are caused by calm winds and accumulation of pollutants.