Delhi fog: Even as rain lashed Delhi on Thursday, parts of Delhi woke up to ‘very dense’ fog on Friday. The weather department has said that similar fog and weather conditions are expected to continue till February 4, after which noticeable changes in the weather is expected to be seen.
The India Meteorological Department said early this morning that as of 5:30 am on Friday, very dense fog was observed across parts of Delhi, as well as parts of Haryana. Dense fog was observed in isolated parts of Rajasthan, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, while moderate fog was observed in isolated pockets of West Bengal.
Visibility at 5:30 am today was 25 metres in Delhi’s Palam and 50 metres in Safdarjung.
Delhi airport issued an advisory to passengers and said that due to dense fog flight operations might be affected and advised travellers to contact their respective airlines for updated flight information. It said that while landings and take-offs are underway, flights that are not CAT III compliant might get affected.
Haryana’s Hissar also had low visibility of 25 metres, while Bihar’s Purnea had a visibility of 50 metres. Rajasthan’s Ganganagar, Jaipur, Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Varanasi, Bihar’s Bhagalpur, Jharkhand’s Ranchi, West Bengal’s Kolkata, Odisha’s Jharsuguda and Chandbali had visibility of up to 500 metres.
The weather department predicted a rise in rainfall in February "exceeding 122 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA)”, which is the average rainfall recorded in a region over a specific time.
It forecasted the activation of another new western disturbance on February 3-4, leading to strong chances of rainfall in parts of Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, and Bharatpur divisions.
The cold and foggy conditions in Delhi come as moderate to heavy snowfall continue in the hills and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh. Shimla received its first snowfall of the season, while the 5-km stretch between Kufri and Fagu was completely covered in snow. Lahaul Spiti was also covered in a blanket of snow. Schools and colleges in the region have been shut till February 3 due to snowfall.
Also read: Delhi fog: Over 50 flights, 23 trains delayed, some diverted; Airport issues passenger advisory