Delhi Wakes up to Dense Fog on New Year's Day as Capital Sees Highest Cold Wave Days in 55 Years

The capital woke up to dense fog and numbing cold on the first day of the New Year, with visibility seriously hampered in many areas. The Indian Meteorological Department had earlier forecast the minimum temperature at four degree Celsius and the maximum temperature at 19 degree Celsius for the city.

Mundka, Rajghat and the DND flyway are blanketed in dense fog, visuals shared by the ANI showed.

The mercury has been showing a declining trend in Delhi over the past few days, the average minimum temperature in December was the second-lowest in 15 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Data released by the IMD on Thursday showed that the mean minimum temperature (MMT) in the city this December was 7.1 degrees Celsius. It said the MMT for December in the national capital dipped below 7 degrees Celsius only once in the last 15 years -- in 2018 when it was 6.7 degrees Celsius.

Delhi also recorded eight cold wave days this December. It had recorded an equal number of cold wave days in December 2018. In December 1965, the city had recorded nine cold wave days, the maximum so far, the IMD said.

The capital had witnessed dense fog on Thursday, as well. According to Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre, clear skies over Delhi-NCR, multiple western disturbances affecting the Himalayan region and the global impact of La Nina were the major reasons behind such low minimum temperatures.