Weather Update: Orange Alert in Delhi, Many Trains, Flights Delayed as Thick Fog Engulfs North India

Cold wave conditions continued in the national capital on Sunday morning as well, as a thick fog blanketed the entire city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for Sunday in Delhi. Several flights were delayed due to low visibility as a result of fog in the morning.

Passengers shared their experience and said that thick fog was also seen at the airport. “Visibility is very low at the airport amid the severe cold that we all have been experiencing,” some passengers said. Visuals from early Sunday morning showed very low visibility.

According to a Delhi airport official, there was no flight diversion until 6 am on Sunday morning. “Around 20 flights have been delayed at Delhi airport due to weather conditions,” ANI quoted the official as saying.

Several trains scheduled for travel in northern parts of India are running late due to fog. Most of these trains had to pass through Delhi, including Purushottam express, Mahabodhi express, Farakka express, Sampark Kranti express, Gorakhdham Superfast express and Padmavat express, among others.

“I came from Bihar’s Patna and my train reached here late by 2-3 hours due to fog,” said Dhananjay Kumar, a passenger at Delhi’s Anand Vihar Terminal railway station.

Meanwhile, an intense cold wave crippled north India, including Delhi, on Saturday with the minimum temperature in parts of the capital plunging to a bone-chilling 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s primary weather station, logged a minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees Celsius — lower than that of most places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and some hill stations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are very likely to continue over some areas in Rajasthan and Haryana and Chandigarh on Sunday. However, slight relief is likely after a couple of days under the influence of back-to-back western disturbances, IMD said.

Fall by 2-3°C in minimum temperatures is very likely over Madhya Pradesh during the next two days and no significant change during the subsequent three days.

Very ground frost conditions in isolated places of north Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh on January 8-9 and over Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttarakhand and West Uttar Pradesh on January 8 and abate thereafter, IMD had said on Saturday.

A severe cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to 2 degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal limits is by more than 6.4 notches. 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.

(With PTI Inputs)

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