Dense fog engulfs Delhi; airport initiates Low Visibility Procedure

Delhi weather update: Tuesday morning saw dense fog engulfing Delhi and NCR. Netizens inundated social media with photos and visuals, with many calling it the first dense fog of the season. Temperatures also dipped early morning on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Delhi Airport said that it has initiated Low Visibility Procedure due to the dense fog. 

In a passenger advisory, the Delhi Airport said that Low Visibility Procedures are in progress but no flight operation has been impacted so far. It urged passengers to contact airlines for updated flight information. 

According to AAI, Low Visibility Procedures are "specific procedures applied at an aerodrome for the purpose of ensuring safe operations during Categories II and III approaches and/or low visibility take-offs".

The Indian Meteorological Department said that the lowest visibility (in meters) was reported at 05:30 am today. 

It further said, “*Dense to very dense fog* in most pockets very likely over Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi; in some pockets over Uttar Pradesh;*dense fog* in isolated pockets over north Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and SHWB.”

Researcher on cyclones in the north Indian Ocean at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology said that the Delhi airport has been engulfed in very dense fog since 3am. “IITM visibility measuring sensors reporting visibility in the range 10m-50m between 3am-5am,” he said in a tweet with an attached graph.

Vice President of Meteorology and Climate Change, Mahesh Palawat said that visibility at the Palam airport dropped to 50 meters at 4:30 am and recovered to 100 metres at 7:30 am. 

Another meteorologist said that dense to very dense layers of fog lay mainly over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi-NCR, North Rajasthan, and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 

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