Delhi weather today: Delhi's minimum temperature plunged to a season's lowest of 4.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday (January 4) even as a dense layer of fog lowered visibility to 200 metres, affecting the movement of road and rail traffic, officials said.
At least 19 trains to Delhi were delayed by one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours due to the foggy weather, a Railways spokesperson said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) shared satellite images that showed a thick layer of fog over the Indo-Gangetic plains and adjoining central and eastern parts of the country.
"Dense fog layer persists over Indo-Gangetic plains. It is likely to persist for the next 2-3 days and gradually reduce thereafter," an IMD official said.
The Palam observatory at the Indira Gandhi International Airport logged a visibility level of 200 metres at 5.30 am.
According to the weather office, 'very dense' fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 metres is 'dense', 201 and 500 metres 'moderate', and 501 and 1,000 metres 'shallow'. The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.
Coldwave conditions are set to return to the capital on Thursday and the mercury may drop to 4 degrees, the IMD has forecast. 'Cold day' conditions had gripped Delhi on Tuesday with the maximum temperature dropping five degrees below normal at many places in the national capital, including Lodhi Road, Palam, Jafarpur and Mayur Vihar.
A cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees Celsius below the normal and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius below the normal. A severe cold day is when the maximum is 6.5 degrees Celsius or more below the normal. The IMD has predicted dense to very dense fog and cold day conditions over northwest India during the next four to five days.
Coldwave conditions are likely to continue over northwest India during the next two days and the intensity will decrease thereafter, it said. In the plains, the Met office declares a cold wave if the minimum temperature dips to four degrees Celsius or when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below and is 4.5 notches below normal.
A severe cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to two degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal is more than 6.4 degrees Celsius.
Delhi's AQI in 'very poor' category:
Delhi air stood at 'very poor' category on Wednesday with Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching 353, as per System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the AQI in the National Capital Region of Gurugram stood at 371, with Noida also registering the same figure.
The AQI in the Delhi University area was 363 while it was 353 in IIT Delhi. In the Airport (T3) area, the air quality was recorded at 373. The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, while from 100 to 200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and from 400 to 500 or above it is considered as severe.
Meanwhile on Jan 2, in view of the air quality of Delhi continuing to remain in the 'Very Poor' category, the Sub-Committee for invoking actions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), decided that the ongoing actions implemented under Stage III of GRAP shall continue for the present, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed in a release on Monday. Stage III of GRAP means a ban on all construction activities except those of national importance.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said in a statement that Delhi's overall AQI was showing an increasing trend due to low wind speeds and unfavourable weather/meteorological conditions."Considering this, the Sub-Committee for invoking actions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), after comprehensively reviewing the air quality scenario and relevant aspects has decided that the ongoing actions implemented under Stage III of GRAP shall continue for the present" the Ministry added.
(With agencies inputs)
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