Delhi woke up to a thick layer of dense fog on Saturday as low visibility continued to disrupt travel across the city. The national capital is forecast to experience light rainfall while the minimum temperature stands at 8 degree Celsius and the maximum temperature stands at 15 degree Celsius, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).
According to the flight tracking website Flightradar24, 209 flights including arrivals and departures were delayed. The website further noted that five flights were cancelled. Meanwhile, 45 trains were delayed due to the dense fog, news agency PTI reported.
Visibility in Palam was at zero meters for three hours until 2 am on Saturday, with easterly winds blowing at 6-8 km/h. Conditions began to improve gradually, reaching 500 meters by 7 am as winds shifted to the east-southeast at 15-18 km/h.
Safdarjung observed minimum visibility of 50 m at 1.30 am which improved thereafter becoming 200m. The IMD has also forecast light rain during the day.
Meanwhile, the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi issued an advisory at 6 am stating flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected due to the weather, however, the flight operations are “presently normal”. The advisory also stated that low visibility procedures are underway.
According to the flight tracking website flightradar24, 209 flights including arrivals and departures were delayed. The website further stated that 5 flights were cancelled. Meanwhile, 45 trains were delayed due to the dense fog, news agency PTI reported.
The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) further asked passengers to contact the airlines concerned for updated flight information. Over 150 flights and 26 trains were delayed in Delhi on Friday, with several disruptions reported during the week due to thick fog.
According to the weather office, dense fog is expected to continue in New Delhi over the weekend. However, visibility may improve on Saturday due to anticipated light rains. The minimum temperature in the capital is projected to drop to around 5 degrees Celsius shortly.
As per IMD, the last time visibility dropped to zero in Delhi was between January 2 and 3 for nine consecutive hours, the longest stretch recorded this season.
Delhi’s AQI was recorded at 409 on Friday while the 24-hour average AQI of the city stood at 357 on Thursday.
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