NEW DELHI: Delhi experienced cold wave conditions for the fifth day in a straight on Monday and the season’s longest fog spell which hit road, rail and air traffic movement. The Palam observatory, near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, recorded visibility levels below 1,000 metres from 8.30pm on Sunday to 4.30pm on Monday.1/19TOI photographers capture the fog-covered morning in DelhiShow Captions<p>Delhi woke up to a foggy morning on Monday. Dense fog reduced visibility hitting movement of trains and flights.</p><p>Delhi witnessed dense fog and severe cold on Monday morning. </p><p>Vehicles were seen moving at a very slow speed as dense fog reduced visibility. </p><p>Most of the vehicles were seen moving with their parking lights on. </p><p>As per IMD, Delhi is expected to get relief from cold wave and fog from Tuesday.</p><p>IMD said all these conditions- dense fog, cold wave, and cold days – will abate from January 10 night.</p><p>Delhi suffered its fourth consecutive cold wave day on Sunday with the minimum temp falling below 2 degrees for the first time in two years.</p><p>Delhi is experiencing one of the season’s worst fog spells with nine hours of below 200m visibility.</p><p>Contrary to earlier forecasts of the extreme cold spell ending by Sunday, the met department said the cold wave is now expected to abate only by Tuesday.</p><p>The city suffered one of its worst spells of dense fog this season on Sunday.</p><p>On Sunday, visibility at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport was 50m from 2. 30am to 10am, improving to 100m from 10am to 11. 30am.</p><p>Dense fog cover was also reported in neighbouring Noida and Gurugram.</p><p>Safdarjung recorded 1. 9 degrees C on Sunday, five notches below normal, making it the coldest morning in the past two years. </p><p>It was also the second coldest January morning on Sunday in the past 16 years, although 1. 9 degrees was also recorded on two other occasions during this period</p><p>The last time Safdarjung recorded a lower minimum temperature was on January 1, 2021 when the mercury dipped to 1. 1 degrees C. </p><p>Many spots in Delhi were colder than several hill stations such as Manali (4. 4 degrees C), Kullu (6. 1), Dharamshala (6. 2) and Shimla (9. 5).</p><p>A ‘cold day’ is declared when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees C and the departure of the maximum temperature from normal is 4. 5 degrees or above.</p><p>The met department had issued a ‘yellow’ alert (be aware) for Monday for cold wave conditions.</p>The visibility levels reduced to 50 metres at Palam and 25 metres at the Safdarjung observatory and the Ridge weather station early in the morning, an official of the IMD said. A total of 267 trains were delayed due to bad weather, a railway official said. Five flights were diverted and 30 delayed due to the foggy conditions, officials at the IGI Airport said. Satellite images showed a fog layer extending from Punjab and adjoining northwest Rajasthan to Bihar through Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The minimum temperatures in the national capital rose marginally though. The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s primary weather station, recorded a minimum of 3.8 degrees Celsius as against 1.9 degrees on Sunday, which is the lowest in January in two years and the second lowest in the month since 2013. The weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge recorded a minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius, 3.2 degrees Celsius and 3.3 degrees Celsius. The Safdarjung observatory had logged a minimum temperature of 1.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 2.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, 4 degrees Celsius on Friday, 3 degrees Celsius on Thursday and 4.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Monday was the fifth consecutive day that Delhi’s minimum temperature was lower than most hill stations in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, including Chamba (8.7 degrees), Dalhousie (9 degrees), Dharamshala (9.2 degrees), Shimla (10.3 degrees), Manali (6 degrees), Kangra (8.9 degrees), Dehradun (6.5 degrees), Mussoorie (11.3 degrees), Nainital (6 degrees), Mukteshwar (7.6 degrees) and Tehri (9.2 degrees), according to the IMD. The chilly weather has prompted the Delhi government to extend winter vacation in schools till January 15. Meteorologists attribute the long spell of intense cold to a large gap between two western disturbances, which meant frosty winds from the snow-clad mountains blew in for a longer-than-usual period. Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather, said, “Usually, there is a gap of three to four days between two western disturbances. This time, the gap increased to seven days. A western disturbance retreated from the region by December 30 and the next one came on January 7.” A senior IMD meteorologist said short-term relief is likely after a couple of days under the influence of back-to-back western disturbances. When a Western disturbance — a weather system characterised by warm moist winds from the Middle East — approaches a region, the wind direction changes. Hence, the chilly northwesterly winds from the mountains will stop blowing for a few days leading to an increase in temperatures, he said. The IMD said the foggy weather may lead to road accidents and advised people to drive slowly and use fog lamps on their vehicles. It said there are chances of tripping of power lines in areas witnessing very dense fog. Long exposure to dense fog may cause respiratory problems for people having asthma bronchitis and other lung-related health problems, it said.(With inputs from PTI)
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-witnesses-seasons-longest-fog-spell-rail-air-traffic-hit/articleshow/96862910.cms