Traffic hit as fog reduces visibility
New Delhi, December 23
A shallow layer of fog engulfed parts of Delhi on Friday morning, reducing visibility to 500 metres, as the city recorded the season’s coldest morning with the mercury dipping to 5.3 degrees Celsius.
The fog disrupted road and rail traffic with a railways spokesperson saying 21 trains were running late by 1.30 to 4.30 hours. The maximum temperature, which settled one notch below normal at 20.1 degrees Celsius, was also the lowest this winter.
The Safdarjung Observatory, the primary weather station in the national capital, recorded the minimum temperature at 5.3 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
This is the lowest temperature recorded so far in the season.
The Palam airport logged the lowest visibility level of 200 metres at 5.30 am. Visibility dropped to 500 metres at the Safdarjung airport at 5.30 am, the IMD said.
According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between zero and 50 metres, between 51 and 200 metres is dense fog, between 201 and 500 metres is moderate fog, and between 501 and 1,000 is shallow fog.
For Saturday, the weather office has predicted mainly clear skies and moderate fog in the morning. The maximum and minimum temperature will be around 20 and 5 degrees Celsius, respectively, the IMD said.
