Winter Chill Persists in North India; Dense Fog, Low Visibility Affect Movement of Trains, Flights

The IMD has extended its weather alert till January 22 saying that the cold weather conditions in states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar will continue as the temperature will hover below the normal limits.

New Delhi: A large part of North India continues to reel under the intense cold wave conditions coupled with dense fog and low visibility in the isolated areas.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), cold wave and extreme weather conditions will prevail across northern India in the days to come. The weather office has predicted that the minimum temperature will further decline in the next two-three days in the national capital region.

Delhi: A layer of fog continues to engulf the national capital. People light a fire to keep themselves warm as the temperature drops. Visuals from Sarai Kale Khan.

Current temperature in the city is 9.8 degree Celsius, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD). pic.twitter.com/TWcgNnvWvT

— ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2021

At 5.30 AM today, Palam and Safdarjung observatories in Delhi recorded 9.4℃ and 9.8℃ temperatures respectively, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD has extended its weather alert till January 22 saying that the cold weather conditions in states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar will continue as the temperature will hover below the normal limits.

Dense to very dense fog is likely to prevail in states such as, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, parts of northeastern states, parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttrakhand, Bihar and sub-Himalayan regions, it added.

Meanwhile, at least 13 trains were reported to be running late on January 20 due to low visibility caused by fog, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Northern Railway (NR), was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

13 trains running late on 20th January, due to low visibility caused by fog: Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Northern Railway (NR)

— ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2021

Dense fog and low visibility also affected flights movement at some airports. Visibility Meteograms for Palam (Delhi), Amritsar (Punjab), Lucknow (UP), Varanasi (UP) and Patna Airport (Bihar) showed that the lowest visibility was reported over Palam and Varanasi airports and has been 200 and 400 m respectively in the early morning hours today, said the IMD.

Visibility over Palam has improved since then and is 600m at 7:00 am. It is zero over Amritsar since past 6 hours and over Patna and Lucknow since past 2 hours: India Meteorological Department (IMD) https://t.co/SEkpFDzh1v

— ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2021

Delhi’s air quality turned ‘severe’ on Tuesday due to low wind speed and high moisture levels, according to the IMD. The city’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 404 on Tuesday. It was 372 on Monday and 347 the previous day.

Before that, Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘severe’ zone for three consecutive days. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

The meteorological conditions like low wind speed and high moisture content in the air were unfavorable for dispersion of pollutants, an IMD official said. The average wind speed was 8 kmph to 10 kmph on Tuesday. Humidity levels shot up 100 per cent during the day.

Delhi has recorded six ‘severe’ air quality days this month so far, while four ‘severe’ air days were registered in December.

(With inputs from ANI)