Delhi and NCR woke up to dense fog on Wednesday morning with visibility dropping to almost nil in some areas
Dense fog covered Delhi and adjoining areas, parts of which also received light rainfall on Wednesday. India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted light rain with winds up to 30-40 kmph at most places over Delhi today, with downpour expected on February 1 and 3 as well.
Snowfall in the hilly areas of North India, meanwhile, is also expected to bring temperature down in Delhi and NCR region.
Visibility dropped to almost nil at several places in Delhi and nearby cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram etc., impacting train and flight operations to and from the national capital.
More than 50 flights were reportedly delayed due to the thick fog in Delhi on Wednesday morning. Some of these flights were diverted to Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Passengers of a IndiGo Delhi-Deoghar flight were also seen raising slogans and protesting against the airline after the flight got cancelled this morning.
Delhi Airport issued a passenger advisory in view of the same, saying flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. "While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," the advisory read.
Parts of Himachal Pradesh, popular among tourists, are finally covered in snow after a long wait. Tourists were seen enjoying snowfall in Himachal Pradesh's Kufri and Manali, which are known as snow paradise of the state.
IMD had isolated heavy rainfall/snowfall over Kashmir valley, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on January 31 and February 1. In Himachal Pradesh, an orange alert was issued over the possibility of snowfall in higher mountains and rain in other parts of the state.
IMD had also said that hailstorm is likely over Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir on January 31.
IMD had forecast heavy rain/snowfall at some places in Chamba, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, Mandi, Shimla districts from the late night of January 30 to the morning of February 2.
In a post on X on January 29, IMD had shown a map, predicting wet spell over Western Himalayan Region from January 29 and over adjoining plains from January 30 to February 4.
With a forecast of dense fog and light rain/thundershower accompanied by gusty winds at most places on Wednesday in Delhi, the minimum temperature settled at around 10 degrees Celsius on Wednesday while maximum was expected to settle at around 19 degrees.
Weather fluctuations are expected to continue till February 3 because of a western disturbance, with further changes anticipated from thereon, a senior IMD official said.
This winter has been different in Delhi with a higher number of cold days and coldwave days, he said.
The average maximum temperature in Delhi this month till January 30 stood at 17.7 degrees Celsius, the lowest in 13 years, according to official data till Tuesday.
The average minimum temperature in the national capital during the same period was pegged at 6.2 degrees Celsius, the second lowest in 13 years, the data cited in a PTI report showed.
On Tuesday morning, Delhi's Safdarjung observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 11.4 degrees Celsius around 9.30 am.