On Thursday morning, Delhi experienced a minimum temperature of 8.4 degrees Celsius, which is two degrees above the normal range, as reported by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The city has been facing disruptions in flight and train operations for the fourth consecutive day due to dense fog, with visibility dropping to as low as 50 meters in some areas. The visibility at Palam has been below 200 meters since 8:30 pm on Wednesday, reaching 50 meters by 10 pm. Although there has been marginal improvement after 8 am on Thursday, dense fog persisted in parts of Delhi.
The IMD issued an ‘orange’ alert for Thursday, forecasting ‘dense’ to ‘very dense’ fog. The weather department mentioned the possibility of ‘cold day’ conditions in isolated parts of Delhi. A ‘cold’ day is defined when the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees Celsius or more below normal, with the minimum temperature also below 10 degrees Celsius.
Despite the foggy conditions, no flight diversions or cancellations were reported at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport on Thursday morning, but over 100 flights experienced delays. The Northern Railways reported delays in at least 22 trains by more than one hour, attributing it to the need for reduced speeds during dense fog to prevent mishaps.
The air quality in Delhi remained ‘very poor’ on Thursday, showing a marginal improvement in the past 24 hours with an average air quality index (AQI) of 377 at 9 am. Forecasts suggest that the air quality is likely to remain ‘very poor’ until December 30, and subsequent days may see it fluctuating between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe.’
