Dense fog returned to the national capital on Thursday affecting flight and train operations.
The visibility early in the morning dropped to below 50 metres. The Met Office has forecast fog will start clearing as the day progresses.
“Due to the dense fog in Delhi, all flights from Mumbai have been delayed by at least 40 minutes,” Rinan Shah, who is flying to Delhi from Mumbai, told IANS .
According to Northern Railway, train operations have also been disrupted.
Commuters travelling from Delhi to satellite towns Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon in Haryana faced a lot of problem.
“It took me more than the normal time as the visibility due to the fog was zero on NH 8,” said Abhishek Mahapatra who works in an IT firm in Gurgaon.
Thursday’s minimum temperature settled a notch above the season’s average at 10.2 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 21 degrees Celsius.
Humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 100 per cent.
Wednesday’s minimum temperature settled at 10 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average, while the maximum was 22 degrees Celsius.
Mount Abu coldest at 2.4 deg Celsius
Cold conditions abated in Rajasthan even as Mount Abu, sole hill station, was the coldest place in the State with a low of 2.4 degree Celsius.
In rest of the desert State, the mercury rose by one to three degree Celsius as compared to yesterday, a MeT official said.
North Western Railways has rescheduled its four trains due to fog and mist in adjoining states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana, while twenty trains were running late from 35 minutes to over 23 hours, a PRO said.
Gohatty-Lalgarh Express is running 23 hrs and 40 minutes late followed by Rishikesh-Sriganganagar Express by 8 hr and 55 minutes.
The minimum temperature varied between 8 and 14 degree Celsius at many places including Churu, Gangangnagar, Pilani, Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota, and Jaisalmer.
Mercury may further rise in entire Rajasthan in next 24 hours, a MeT forecast said.
Kargil records season’s lowest night temp
Kargil, in the frontier Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded the lowest night temperature this season as the mercury settled more than 21 degrees below the freezing point even as the MeT Department has predicted fresh snowfall in the region.
“Moderate to heavy snow would occur at most places in Kashmir Valley and Jammu and at many places in Ladakh region as a fresh western disturbance is approaching the state. This weather system is likely to affect the state from February 2 to 6 with its main activity from the night of February 2 to 5,” MeT Department Director Sonam Lotus said.
“The weather would turn bad in the evening of February 2 and some areas, including plains, may receive heavy snowfall. Few places, particularly along south Kashmir and Pir Panjal mountain range may receive very heavy snowfall,” he said.
He said the weather may disrupt surface and air transport on February 3 and 4 and the day temperatures may fall by five to six degrees, while night temperature may rise by two to three degrees.
Meanwhile, cold wave continued in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region with the minimum temperature in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, dipping by over one degree from minus 2.3 degrees Celsius the previous night, to register a low of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius last night.
The mercury in Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, settled at minus 7.4 degrees Celsius, as against minus 7.0 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Kokernag, in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night’s minus 9.3 degrees Celsius.
The mercury in the tourist resort of Pahalgam recorded a minimum of minus 10.8 degrees Celsius, a slight increase as compared to minus 12.3 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg registered a low of minus 12 degrees Celsius as compared to minus 11.2 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 2 degree Celsius, as against the previous night’s 2.1 degree Celsius.
Leh, in the frontier region of Ladakh, recorded a low of minus 12.7 degrees Celsius as against minus 12.0 degrees the previous night.
Kargil recorded the minimum of minus 21.6 degrees Celsius, down by over one degree from the previous night’s low of minus 20.4 degrees Celsius.
Dense fog hits normal life in Punjab, Haryana
Cold wave tightened its grip in Punjab and Haryana with minimum temperature dipping below normal at several places.
A thick blanket of fog on Thursday enveloped most parts of Punjab and Haryana, affecting normal life.
Dense fog reduced visibility considerably at several parts including Amritsar, Mohali, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Ambala etc, affecting road traffic besides delaying trains and flights.
Adampur in Punjab was the coldest place in the region with a minimum of 5.4 deg Celsius.
Union Territory of Chandigarh recorded minimum of 6 deg Celsius, the MeT Department said here on Thursday.
In Punjab, Amritsar had a low of 9.2 deg Celsius, up by 4 deg Celsius. Ludhiana, an industrial hub of Punjab, recorded a minimum of 8.3 deg Celsius, while Patiala braved cold weather at 9 deg Celsius, down by 2 notches below normal.
Among plain areas of Haryana, Ambala and Karnal shivered at 7 deg Celsius and 6.8 deg Celsius, down by a degree below normal.
Narnaul, Hisar and Bhiwani recorded minimum of 8 deg Celsius, 9.3 deg Celsius and 9.8 deg Celsius, respectively.
Met department in its forecast said weather will mainly be dry in the state till February 1.
Rain or thundershowers will occur at several places in Punjab and Haryana on February 2 because of western disturbances, a MeT forecast said.
