A blinding layer of fog engulfed North India on Sunday, with visibility levels plunging to zero metres at several places and affecting traffic movement. In the national capital Delhi, the minimum temperature dropped to 3 degrees Celsius last night – the lowest so far this season.
A cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees Celsius, and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 notches below normal. A severe cold day is when the maximum temperature is at least 6.5 notches below normal.
At the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, dense fog brought visibility down to zero at 5 AM, in what is the longest spell of dense fog this winter.
Dense fog engulfed Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, North Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh starting at 10 pm on Saturday, according to an India Meteorological Department official.
“This is the first time this winter season that zero-metre visibility was reported from Amritsar to Dibrugarh across Ganganagar, Patiala, Ambala, Chandigarh, Delhi, Bareilly, Lucknow, Bahraich, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Tezpur (Assam), and has been the longest duration of dense fog and the most intense this season,” the scientist said.
As many as 22 trains and 150 flights linked to Delhi have been delayed.
Friday witnessed the season’s first cold wave day with temperature dipping to 3.9 degrees Celsius, while on Saturday night, temperaure dipped to 3 degrees, in Aya Nagar, the last village of Delhi on the Mehrauli-Gurugram road.