Dense Fog In Delhi Hits Flight, Train Ops, IMD Says Cold Wave To Continue Till Jan 16

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for the national capital and surrounding areas on Sunday. 

Delhi and other north India parts are in grip of foggy condition amid the intense cold wave.

Late on Saturday evening, the IMD’s forecast said: "Fog conditions observed at 23:30 hours of January 13: Moderate fog in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and northwest Madhya Pradesh and shallow fog in isolated pockets of Chandigarh, Delhi and Assam."

According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, between 51 and 200 metres is dense, between 201 and 500 metres moderate, and between 501 and 1,000 metres shallow.

Flight operations to get hampered due to fog:

In view of the intense fog, the flight operations are likely to get disrupted at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, due to low visibility.

As per the MeT department, the visibility is currently “poor” in Delhi. 

Earlier, on Saturday evening, the MeT said the visibility at the IGI airport was at 350 metres, and was likely to be reduced by up to 200 meters.

In a statement, Delhi's IGI airport said, "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."

CAT III is a navigation system that helps aircraft land during dense fog and inclement weather conditions when visibility is low. 

Train services hit:

According to Northern Railways, at least 22 trains to Delhi from various parts of the country were running late due to dense fog conditions.

Delhi records season’s coldest temperature:

Delhi has recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the season with the mercury dipping to 3.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday. 

The intense cold wave conditions and thick fog continues to affect the NCR too, with poor visibility prevailing in areas across the Yamuna.

Fog unlikely to abate in north India till Jan 16, says IMD: 

The IMD has said that dense fog and prevailing cold wave conditions are unlikely to abate in parts of northwest India during the next 3-4 days, till January 16.